Getting There
by meg121186
Summary: [Sequel to Ready For Anything] This is my third story in the Rory and Riley saga. This story will feature junior and senior year at Yale for Rory, Riley, and their friends. Follow them as they complete their education and move on into the real world, getting there, together.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except for Riley. Gilmore Girl's belongs to the brilliant Palladino's.

 **AN:** This is the sequel to Ready For Anything. It is the third (and possibly final) story of my Rory  & Riley storyline. It picks up roughly five months after the end of Ready For Anything. In this story you will find what happens with Rory, Riley, their friends, and family as they embark on their final years at Yale. Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 1: "A Gilmore who cooks? Never heard of such a thing,"

* * *

"Happy Thanksgiving, Cuz," Jess said as he walked into the library at The Dragonfly when he saw Rory and Tristan curled up on the sofa. Tristan was flipping through a magazine, while Rory was engrossed in a book, "Rory?"

"Olivia!" Rory yelled, tossing her book in Tristan's lap and rushing to give the girl next to Jess a hug when her brain registered who had just called her name, "It's been too long since I've seen you."

"Am I invisible?" Jess asked, taking Rory's seat next to Tristan as the girls sat down down together in the oversized armchair across from them and continued their conversation.

"You are now that Rory's met your girlfriend and realized she's cooler than you are," Tristan told him.

Jess was hoping that when he introduced Rory and Olivia they would get along and they did, but Jess didn't introduce them. He was planning to introduce them when he went to New York to visit Olivia, but the week after Rory's first day at The Journal News, they met when Rory went to the gallery Olivia was working at. The gallery was having an exhibition and when the wife of the reporter who was supposed to attend went into labor, Rory was asked to fill in.

"I still can't believe they knew each other for three weeks and never told me," Jess said.

"I can. It's funnier that way," Tristan said with a laugh, remembering the look of shock and surprise on Jess' face when he came to the apartment to drop off his suitcase before going to see Olivia, only to have her be the one answering the door.

"We're supposed to be bro's man. You're supposed to have my back and tell me these things," Jess said, "A guy should tell another guy when he knows his ex-girlfriend is becoming best friends with his current girlfriend."

"Yeah, but that's no fun for me," Tristan told him, "And besides, being alone in an apartment with Rory all summer; no Riley to complain or interrupt; no way was I going to do or say anything to piss her off."

"Where is Riley anyway?" Jess asked, surprised he was in the library reading like Rory.

"In the kitchen helping Luke and Sookie," Tristan said.

"A Gilmore who cooks? Never heard of such a thing," Jess said.

"I know. It surprised me and Mom, too," Rory said .

"What do you know, I'm visible again," Jess said, "Are you two done conspiring against me?"

"Nobody's conspiring against you, babe," Olivia told him, "We're just catching up."

"Yeah, Olivia was just telling me how excited her professors were to read the article I wrote about her," Rory told them.

After writing her initial article about the gallery, Rory ran into Olivia at a coffee shop. The two of them talked more and Rory was inspired to write an article focusing on Olivia and the talent the young artist had. It was during time interviewing Olivia and learning about her passion sculpting something out of nothing that they discovered they both knew Jess. That first article also began what became part of her summer job at The Journal News. Her editor and Mitchum Huntzberger liked Rory's approach of introducing an unknown talent to the world and asked her seek out more and make them famous.

* * *

"Hey, Rory, can you…"Riley began, walking into the library, "Oh, hey everyone. Jess, Tris, would you mind giving us a hand in the kitchen? We're just about ready."

"Sure, no problem," Tristan said.

"And Baby Girl, you think you and Olivia could keep Mom company so she'll stop trying to help," Riley said.

"She's eight months pregnant, she doesn't need to be helping when there are this many people here," Rory said.

"Try telling her that," Riley said as they all followed him towards the kitchen.

"Hey, Mom, you've met Olivia, right?" Rory asked, grabbing her mother by the arm and leading her away from the kitchen back into the library.

"Yes, we met at the end of the summer when Jess brought her to town to show her Stars Hollow and meet Liz and Luke," Lorelai said.

"Well, she was just telling me about this incredible mobile she made for her nephew and I was telling her she should ask you about maybe making one for Sophie," Rory said, "Have her show you the pictures. It's fantastic."

"How did you do that?" Riley asked, bring a tray of food out into the dining room, stopping in the library to be sure Lorelai was relaxing.

"Easy, Olivia made a mobile for her nephew," Rory told him.

"And you're having her show Mom pictures of so she can make one for Sophie, genius," Riley said, "Get Mom talking about our baby sister and she'll talk for hours."

"Exactly," Rory said as they watched their mother light up as she talked with Olivia about their baby sister due in three weeks. Lorelai and Luke had found out at the end of the summer that Baby Danes was a girl, a fact Lorelai was excited about because Sophia Grace Danes, would get to grow up being best friends Martha Daisy Belleville, "Only three more weeks until you're a big brother again. Are you excited?"

"Very excited. I can't wait to meet little Sophie," Riley said, "How about you? This is your first time officially becoming a big sister."

"I can't wait. Other than Davey a bit when he was first born and Martha every now and then, I've never really been around a baby before," Rory said, "I'm nervous, but also excited."

"Yeah, I was the same way when Gigi was born. I had never been around a baby before. I may not have been thrilled to have her around, but I also didn't want to drop her or something if I held her," Riley said.

"I think I have enough sense not to drop the baby," Rory said.

"True and it is really cool that Sophie will have Martha just a few months older than her," Riley said.

"And Jamie, just a few weeks younger," Rory reminded him. A few weeks after Luke and Lorelai found out they were expecting a girl, Dean and Lindsay found out that Baby Forester was a boy.

"Of course, Jameson Davis Forester. How could I forget," Riley said, "Sophie's very own, ready made boyfriend, ugh."

"I think it's cute," Rory told him, "Living in Stars Hollow, Sophie and Jamie are going to grow up together, celebrating birthdays mere weeks apart. It will be adorable if they grow up and fall in love."

"They're not even born yet, Baby Girl and you want to marry them off to each other?" Riley asked.

"You never know, Ry," she told him, "It could happen."

* * *

"Okay, before we dive into this incredibly delicious smelling food, I just want to thank everyone for being here," Lorelai said, looking around the room at her large and still growing family, "We've been through a lot together, especially these last two years. I am delighted that we could all be here today, happy and together as we celebrate our last holiday before we had another member to the mix. And I want to say a big thank you to Sookie, Luke, and Riley for working their butts off, putting together this great meal for all of us. So, in closing, Happy Thanksgiving and dig in."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Mom," Rory said.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Luke said to Lorelai, kissing her cheek and rubbing his hand on her stomach, "Happy Thanksgiving, Sophia Grace."

"So, kids, how are things going at the paper," Straub asked as they all filled their plates and began eating.

"Good, except the boss is a tyrant," Riley told him.

"I certainly hope you're speaking of yourself, Ry," Rory said.

With it being his senior year, Doyle decided to step down from his role as editor. He wanted to have more time to focus on his classes and be able to write a bit more than he was previously able to do. And after many attempts at voting, they couldn't reach a unanimous decision so Rory and Riley decided to share the job since the staff couldn't choose between them.

"You know I'm only kidding, Baby Girl," Riley said.

"Good because I am an angel to work for," Rory said.

"Tell that to Huntzberger," Riley said.

"Eh, he'll get over it," Rory said.

"What happened with Logan?" April asked.

"Well, while Logan may be a good writer, he puts forth no effort at the paper," Rory said, "He'll write an article, purely to get Mitchum off his back."

"And with this being his senior year, Mitchum is adamant that he get as many bylines as possible," Riley said.

"Which Logan couldn't care less about," Rory added.

"Right, so three weeks ago, Logan came strolling into the office for the first time this year," Riley said, "And asked Rory for a story to write because Mitchum was bugging him to write one."

"Did you give him one?" Christopher asked.

"No. I told him I only had stories for real journalists who really wanted to be there. I told him there are only so many spots on the paper and if he wasn't introduced in fulfilling his job by being there and on time like everyone else than I would gladly find someone who would be more than willing to take his spot," Rory said.

"Wow, so how did Mitchum feel about that?" Straub asked.

"He applauded her for putting Logan in his place," Riley said, "And now the guy is terrified of her. He shows up early whenever we call a staff meeting to pitch ideas, he brings Rory coffee."

"And he's written three articles of his own accord since I told him I had nothing for him," Rory said, "He even gets them in early and has taken to having someone else proof them first so I don't see his spelling mistakes."

"Well, that's wonderful. I'm glad you're both enjoying your job as editor," Straub said.

"Thanks, Grandpa," Rory said.

"And all this work you're doing at the paper isn't interfering with your school work, right?" Richard asked.

"Absolutely not," Rory said, "I actually think it works out better for us that we're co-editors."

"Yeah, we share the responsibility equally so too much doesn't fall to one of us to get done and we're not stressed trying to get the paper at and still complete our regular coursework," Riley said.

"And, sharing the job allows the chance to let the other do a little more editing on an issue while the other writes something," Rory said.

"Well, good. It's good to have balance in your life," Richard said.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: "Or like doing splits on a crate of dynamite,"

* * *

A few weeks after Thanksgiving, Rory was woken up by the continuous ringing of her cellphone, sounding from somewhere in her and Tristan's apartment. She had been tired the night before and left it somewhere before crashing into bed just after midnight. She was finished with her finals and her and Riley had stayed up late getting all the final editing done on the last issue of the paper before the holiday break.

"Rory, it's just going to keep ringing if you don't get up and go answer it," Tristan said, kissing her shoulder when she rolled over to lay her head on his chest, pulling their blanket further over her body.

"It's the middle of the night, Tristan," she told him, "They can call back when the sun is up."

"Whoever it is, is pretty insistent," Tristan said as her phone went off for the third time before his started vibrating on the nightstand next to their bed, "It's Riley."

"Ry?" Rory said, when Tristan handed her his phone.

"Where the hell is your phone? We've been calling you forever," Riley said.

"We?" Rory asked.

"Yes, me, Luke, April," Riley said, "It's Mom."

"Mom? Is she okay? The baby?" Rory said, more awake now as she listened to brother.

"They're fine. Just get your butt dressed so we can down to Hartford Memorial. You're about to be a big sister again," Riley told her.

"Oh my gosh," Rory said, throwing the covers off her and jumping out of the bed, "We'll be there as soon as we can. Get dressed, Tris."

* * *

After getting dressed faster than she ever imagined possible, Rory and Tristan met Riley and Stephanie in the lobby of their apartment building so the four of them could ride together to the hospital to welcome Sophia Grace Danes into their family.

"How's Mom?" Rory asked April when they walked into the waiting room and saw her sitting there with Jay asleep on her shoulder.

"What's this?" Riley asked, pointing at Jay.

"Lorelai's fine," April told them, "And Dad knew it could be awhile before the baby is here and before you guys made it from New Haven. He didn't want me sitting out here alone wondering and worrying so he suggested I call Jay."

"At three o'clock in the morning?" Tristan asked, taking a seat next to Rory, placing his arm around her so she could lean against him.

"He knew the baby was coming soon and said if I needed to call him for anything I could. Any time," April said.

"I bet he's regretting that one now," Stephanie said, taking a spot with Riley on the empty sofa in the room, laying down with her head in his lap.

"Sleep if you want," Riley told he, running his fingers through her blond curls before kissing her forehead, "I'll wake you when something happens."

"Thanks, Riles," she said, before sleep overtook her as he covered her with his jacket.

"Man, Steph seems more tired than the rest of us," Rory said, "Is she alright?"

"She's fine, Baby Girl. She just hasn't been to sleep yet. She was still up studying when April called me," he told her, "She has her last final this afternoon."

"Then what is she doing here?" Rory asked.

"I told her she could stay home and sleep, but she wants to be here for Mom and for us," Riley said.

"That's sweet," Rory said, letting her eyes close a bit as Tristan ran his fingers up and down her arm.

A few hours later the waiting room was filled with the sounds of Emily Gilmore demanding to know where her daughter was and threatening every nurse and doctor she met until someone could give her an answer. Once told she was still in labor, Emily and Richard called the rest of the family before joining the kids in the waiting room.

"Oh, Richard, look," Emily said when she walked in ahead of him and saw the three sleeping couples. Jay was now laying on the sofa he and April shared with her asleep on his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Stephanie was still asleep with her head in Riley's lap, but he had now joined her in sleep, his head resting against the back of sofa. Rory and Tristan were seated together on one of the large chairs; Rory on his lap, her head resting against his shoulder while his head had fallen to rest on the top of her, "Don't they all just look adorable?"

"They must have been here most of the night," Richard said, finding it sweet that his grandchildren and future step-grandchild were excited to meet their new sibling and that their significant others were happy to be there to support them, "Should we wake them and let them know we're here?"

"No, I'm sure they've all been busy with school and the paper. Let them be. We can wake them when the others get here," Emily said.

* * *

"Coffee," Rory mumbled a couple of hours later.

"Told you. Even one small cup all the way across the room would be enough to awaken a Gilmore," Jess said.

"You better have more than one small cup, Dodger," Rory said, opening her eyes as she sat up and looked around the room at the crowd before her.

Jess and Olivia had driven up from Philly. Liz and TJ were in a corner talking with Sookie and Jackson. Her grandparents, both sets were talking with her Dad and Sherry. April and Jay were now awake and watching a movie on the waiting room's television.

"Did Mom have the baby yet?" Rory asked.

"Not yet, sweetie," Christopher told her, giving her a hug now that she was awake.

"Where's Ry?" Rory asked, noticing both he and Stephanie were missing.

"They woke up an hour ago and Riley talked her into going back to New Haven so she could relax and study more before her final," Tristan told her, "He should be back soon."

"I'm back now," Riley said, coming into the waiting room, "And I come bearing gifts."

"Gimme," Rory said, not waiting for her brother to fully enter the room before grabbing a coffee cup from the dozen or so he had with him, drinking it down in a few gulps, "Yummy."

"Coffee number two," Riley said, handing her a second cup.

"Thank you," Rory said.

A couple hours later, it was nearing noon. Lorelai had been in labor for ten hours and was now ready to bring little Sophie into the world. Just before she was ready to start pushing, Luke came into the waiting room to get Rory, Riley, and April. They had discussed in the beginning of Lorelai's pregnancy and again just after Thanksgiving if they all wanted to be included and be there to welcome their baby sister into the world. While Rory and Riley were both a bit squeamish to the idea, April was all for it. She was long away from wanting a kid herself, but found the birthing process fascinating.

"You won't be thinking that when it's you doing the screaming," Rory told her as they walked behind Luke to the deliver room and April once again shared her excitement for what was about to happen.

"Probably not, but the scientist in me finds the process interesting. It's the most natural and human thing we can do, bringing another life into this world," April said.

"That's true, I guess," Riley said, taking both of their hands as they walked into the delivery room.

"My babies," Lorelai said when she saw the three of them enter the room.

"How are doing, Mom?" Riley asked, kissing her cheek.

"Besides the fact it hurts like hell," Lorelai said.

"Or like doing splits on a crate of dynamite," Rory added with a laugh.

"Right," Lorelai said, "But, other than that, I feel great. I can't wait to meet your little sister."

"Us, either Mom," Rory said, kissing her cheek.

"Okay, just another minute Lorelai and you'll be ready to be a mom again," her doctor told her.

With Luke holding onto one hand and Riley holding onto the other so Lorelai could squeeze them as she felt the pain of her contractions, Rory and April took spots, standing just behind them on either side of Lorelai's head, rubbing her shoulders and wiping her head with a cool washcloth as they welcomed Sophia Grace Danes into the world.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:"I couldn't love you more if you were my own son."

* * *

"She's so light," Rory said as she cradled her newborn sister in her arms.

"Six pounds isn't that heavy, Baby Girl," Riley said, "Pretty sure your book bag weighs at least twice that."

"Funny. I don't know. I guess I just never expected her to be so little," Rory said.

"She's a baby, they're always little," Riley said, "Now, do I get a turn or are you going to continue to hog the baby?"

"Yes, you can have a turn," Rory said, handing their sister to him, "I'm going to go get some coffee. Are you good here?"

"We're fine, just bring me back a cup," Riley told her, reclining his chair back so Sophie could rest on his chest, "Just you and me now, Little One. Everyone else has either gone home or passed out."

Sophia Grace Danes was now four hours old. After taking a few minutes to meet her, the grandparents and the rest of the family went back home to give the new family time to bond with her. Having been up since the middle of the night, Luke and Lorelai had fallen asleep in Lorelai's room along with April, while Rory and Riley were taking care of Sophie in the adjoining room Richard insisted on so they had plenty of room for any family and friends to visit.

"You're only a few hours old, but you are already so loved. You have so many people, family, friends, and friends as close as family that love you and are looking forward to watching you grow up into the incredible person I know you're going to be," Riley told Sophie as she lay on him, her tiny fist clutched tight around the front of his t-shirt, her clear blue eyes staring up at him, "As beautiful as they are I hope your eyes don't stay that way, Little One. Your Dad and I will have to lock you in the attic until you're thirty to keep the boys away."

"Try forty," Luke said, coming into the room, taking a seat in the chair next to Riley, "Sorry to interrupt, but I woke up and wanted to check on her."

"That's fine, Luke," Riley said, "Is Mom still asleep?"

"Yeah, but she'll probably wake up soon or I should wake her myself. I imagine Sophie will need to be fed soon," Luke said.

"Probably, it's been a few hours since Mom fed her," Riley said, "Do you want to take her."

"No, you look like you've got a handle on it," Luke said, "Besides, I'll get my turn when you're back and busy at school. Enjoy it while you can."

"True, and I am enjoying it. It's crazy how much I love this little girl, already," Riley said.

"I know, me too, but I felt the same way not long after I met you and April," Luke said.

"Really?" Riley asked.

"Of course," Luke told him, "I couldn't love you more if you were own son."

"Thanks, Luke," Riley said, "I love you, too, you know."

* * *

Over the next week, the Twickham House saw a lot of visitors as everyone in town and all of their family members wanted to meet and spend time with the newest member of their tight-knit group. Wanting to have some bonding time with their sister, Rory and Riley both moved into the house for the week so they could spend time with her, but to also give Luke and Lorelai a break every now and then.

"I can't believe that she is already a week old" Rory said as she waited for April to bring a bottle to her for Sophie. Since it was almost Christmas and they knew they would be surrounded by family the whole weekend, they talked Luke and Lorelai into going out for the evening. Rory told them that her, Riley, and April were perfectly capable of carrying for their sister for a few hours as long as Lorelai left milk for them.

"I know. It seems like it took forever for her to get here and now that she's here, she's growing too fast," April said, sitting next to Rory on the living room couch, handing her the bottle for Sophie.

"So, your first Christmas with a boyfriend," Rory said, "Are you and Jay doing anything special?"

"He's coming over tomorrow to spend the day with us and tomorrow night we're going to be enjoying my present for him," April said, "And then we'll pick him up to come with us to the Gilmore's on Sunday."

"He's not spending the holiday with his parents?" Rory asked.

"No, his family is a lot like Tristan's," April told her, "His parents aren't even home right now. His dad had a business trip in Europe and his mom went with him."

"And left their son all alone at Christmas," Rory said.

"Yeah, I don't like it either and Dad offered to let Jay stay either at the diner or in a guest room at the opposite end of the house from mine, but he said no," April said.

"That's so sad," Rory said, taking the bottle away from Sophie so she could lay her on her shoulder to burp her, "So, what did you get him and what's happening Saturday night?"

"We are going to the New York Philharmonic," April said, "He won't play for anyone else really expect me, but he loves the music so tomorrow when he gets here I'll give him the tickets and Dad has hired a driver to take us. He doesn't what Jay to have to drive to New York and back so late at night."

"That's great, April. He'll love it," Rory said.

"I hope so. What are you getting Tristan for Christmas?" April asked.

"A trip that he can take over spring break," Rory told her.

"A trip he can take? You're not going with him?" April asked.

"No and Riley is giving the same trip to Stephanie," Rory told her, "We're sending them to Chicago."

"Okay, cool, why?" April asked.

"We drove past a house in Stamford once that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Tristan mentioned wanting to go to Chicago so he could see his home there and the others he designed," Rory said, "There are dozens of houses all over the city that he designed. And Steph is dying to see some of the museums, The Art Institute, specifically. They have a huge photography section."

"Sounds great, but why aren't the two of you going with them?" April asked.

"Because we'll be in Atlantic City with Mom and Dad," Rory told her.

"What?" April asked.

"Ever since I was little my Mom had this idea for when I turned twenty-one. We would gotto Atlantic City and sit at a blackjack table just as it turned midnight the day I was born," Rory said.

"So you would be playing twenty-one when you turned twenty-one," April said, "That's sweet."

"And with Mom being pregnant when I turned twenty-one and us being so busy with school and the paper, that didn't happen," Rory said, "I told Riley about Mom's plan and he offered for the two of us to just go and celebrate together, but it wouldn't be the same since it was always Mom's plan."

"That makes sense," April said.

"Plus, Dad told Riley when he was a kid that he would either send him or take him to Las Vegas when he turned twenty-one," Rory said, "But Mom doesn't want to be too far from Sophie so we're sticking with our plan for Atlantic City, but including Riley and Dad in it."

"And my Dad is okay with this. The four of you, having this little family trip, together?" April asked.

"Yeah, he wasn't really thrilled with the idea when we first mentioned it, but he gets that it's important for us to have these family moments," Rory said, "So, we'll go to Atlantic City for the week and so they are not stuck here alone, Tristan and Stephanie will be going to Chicago."

* * *

"You know, I thought going to pick up the pizza would be faster, but I was wrong," Riley said, coming into the house just as Rory place Sophie in her bassinet in the living room, "Where's April?"

"She ran upstairs to put her pajamas on," Rory said, "What happened at Pete's?"

"Kirk," he said.

"Say no more," she told him, "Pick the first movie. I'm going to go change."

After all three had changed into their pajamas they sat themselves on the couch in the living room to enjoy their pizza and the marathon of holiday movies they chose for the evening. By the end of the second movie, Sophie had woken up, crying for another bottle and April had fallen asleep. When Luke and Lorelai returned they found all four of their kids asleep on the couch. Rory had her head against the armrest with April's feet in her lap while Riley had Sophie curled up on his chest with April's head leaning against his shoulder as he rested his head on the back of the couch.

"Keep quiet while I get a picture of this," Lorelai said before Luke could move to grab Sophie and begin waking the kids up to get them up to bed.

"We have to frame this and put it up in here somewhere," Luke said when he looked at the picture Lorelai took on her camera.

"I love how close they are and how much they adore Sophie," Lorelai said, "It's so sweet."

"I know. I'm really glad we didn't have to worry about any jealousy with any of them," Luke said, "Do you want to grab Sophie? I can take April upstairs."

"Yeah," Lorelai said, reaching down to grab her youngest from the arms of her oldest, "Riley?"

"Mom?" Riley mumbled when he felt movement in his arms.

"Yeah, sweets, we're home," Lorelai told, "You want to relinquish your hold on your sister so I can get her up to bed?"

"Yeah, where's April?" Riley asked, opening his eyes and seeing she was no longer next to him.

"Luke carried her up. Do you want me to wake up Rory or are you good to take her up?" Lorelai asked.

"I've got her," Riley said, standing up and going to the other end of the couch to pick up his sister, "Night, Mom."

"Night, sweetie," Lorelai said.

* * *

Christmas morning Rory was up early to go to Weston's to get several cups of their famous candy cane coffee before they closed for the rest of the day. Luke had begrudgingly agreed to let Lorelai have one cup since it was Christmas. She had toned down her coffee drinking throughout her pregnancy, but still had the occasional cup and decided to continue with it while she breastfed Sophie, but she had to have the candy cane coffee.

"I come bearing coffee," Rory said as she entered the kitchen.

"Oh, candy cane coffee, yum," Riley said, grabbing a cup.

"Is that Weston's?" Jess asked, coming into the kitchen when he entered the house, having spent the night in the diner apartment with Olivia.

"Of course," Rory told him, handing him a cup.

"Since when do you drink coffee?" Olivia asked him.

"I don't, except this, here," he said, offering her the cup to try, "I had a cup of this my first year here. I wasn't big on coffee, but it smelled really good and Rory insisted it was delicious."

"It's amazing," Olivia said, taking her own cup that Rory offered her, "Thank you."

"You know, of all the things I missed when I left here, I think I missed this the most," Jess said.

"Ouch, ex-girlfriend, best friend, future cousin in the room," Rory said.

"I'm kidding. I missed Luke, too," he said before quickly leaving the room as Rory threw a towel at his head.

"Not funny," she said.

* * *

Once everyone had their fill of candy cane coffee and had their presents open, Rory and Riley took Tristan and Stephanie to the gazebo to give them their gift. They both were aware of the plans to go to Atlantic City with their parents for spring break and had been wondering what they were going to do while away from them that whole break, but were shocked when they were handed the envelopes that contained vouchers for their plane tickets and receipts for their hotel rooms.

"Are you serious about this?" Tristan asked.

"Absolutely," Rory told her, "I know how much you want to see all those Frank Lloyd Wright houses and while I'm sure they're beautiful, I know I wouldn't appreciate them as much as you or Steph would."

"Same for me. I love art. The things I've seen at the museums in New York and when we went to The Louvre were incredible, but you and Tristan both have a lot more interest in that stuff than Rory and I do," Riley said, "So instead of the two of you sitting around New Haven while we're in Atlantic City…"

"We thought you would enjoy this nice trip to Chicago," Rory said.

"Thanks you guys. This is amazing," Stephanie said, giving Rory a hug before giving one to her boyfriend, "This is going to be so much fun. I can't wait."

"Me either, thank you," Tristan said, hugging his friend before taking his turn to hug his girlfriend, "This is great, Mary. Thank you."

"Of course. I love you, Bible Boy," Rory told him.

"I love you, too," he said.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone gathered into their cars and left for Hartford to have a big family dinner with the Gilmore's and the Hayden's. Rory and Riley stopped at Jay's with Tristan, Stephanie, and April to pick him up while Luke and Lorelai went on to the Gilmore's. Jess and Olivia left for New York after breakfast to spend the day with some of her family in New York since Liz and TJ had gone to Florida to work a renaissance fair.

Everyone was excited to see the youngest family member dressed her little red and green ruffled skirt and "My First Christmas" shirt. Sophie spent the whole night being passed around from one family member to the other as they were all anxious to hold her, most of her time being spent in either Emily or Francine's arms, that she was hardly able to keep her eyes open that night as Lorelai fed her just before bed.

"She had a big day," Luke said.

"Yes, she did. We all did," Lorelai said, "But it was a good day, too."

"A very good day," Luke said, leaning down to kiss his daughter's forehead before giving Lorelai a kiss, too.

"Merry First Christmas Sophia Grace Danes!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: "I can't believe you recognized that Aaron Carter song,"

* * *

The week after Christmas the town planned a baby shower for Lindsay and Dean. She was three weeks away from her due date and with everyone being on break from school or off from work because of the holiday, they decided the afternoon of New Year's Eve was the best time for the shower.

"Do we have everything?" Rory asked April and Lorelai as they got ready to go to Miss Patty's for the shower.

"Yeah, we have the extra punch bowl Patty asked for and all our gifts," Lorelai said.

"Great and Ry, you and Tris are good with the baby?" Rory asked.

"We're fine. We can handle it and Luke is just a phone call away at the diner if we need him," Riley told her.

"And I'm sure you and Lorelai will come back, too if we needed you," Tristan added.

"True. Alright, let's go," Rory said, walking out the door, Lorelai and April following her.

"If she's this insanely protective over your sister, I can't imagine what she'll be like when it's our kid," Tristan said to Riley once the girls left.

"Your kid?" Riley asked.

"I meant our kid sometime in the far distant future. Not now," Tristan said, "Definitely not now."

"Good, I'd hate to have to put the baby down just so I could hit you," Riley said.

"Appreciate that," Tristan said.

"So, you see you and Rory having kids someday?" Riley asked.

"If she wants. After we graduate and we've been married awhile, yeah, I can see myself having kids with Rory," Tristan said, "I want to have the chance to be a better father than I had."

"And you will be. You're not your father, Tris," Riley told him.

"I know. It's hard not to wonder though. He had so much control over my life for so long, I don't want to subconsciously be like that with my kids," Tristan said, "Or the asshole I used to be that Rory hated. I don't want my kids to hate me like I do my dad."

"You won't They won't. You don't want to be like him and you've worked too hard to be a different and better man than him to revert back to that now," Riley said, "And besides you've got a lot of people ready and willing to kick your ass if you become your father."

"And Rory would be first in line," Tristan said.

"Oh, definitely," Riley said, "So, does Rory feel the same way you do about getting married and having kids someday?"

"I have no idea. We've never talked about it. I don't want to freak her out," Tristan said.

"I don't think she'll freak out. She loves you. You've been together for over two years and you live together," Riley said, "She was willing to turn down a job from Mitchum Huntzberger if it meant being away from you for the summer again, she's in this for the long hall."

"I hope so," Tristan said.

"I'm sure. As long as neither one of you does something stupid, you're going to be together forever," Riley told him, "Just make sure you discuss this sometime with Rory first. She's not big on surprises so she may not take it well if you just propose to her out of the blue someday."

"You're probably right. I'll find a time to discuss our future together. I don't know when, but I will," Tristan told him.

"Good and just for the record, I approve," Riley told him.

"Thanks, man. That means a lot," Tristan said.

* * *

"Decorating these onesies was a really good idea," Lindsay said as she looked at the one's everyone was coloring as she colored one herself, "Who's idea was it?"

"Jess' girlfriend Olivia. She's an art student and she made one for Sophie when she was born," Rory told her.

"You'll have to thank her for me next time you talk to her," Lindsay said.

"I will. And you're right. It is a really great idea. As long as you can draw or paint, that is," Rory said, looking at her lopsided basketball as she began to draw a football beside it.

"Hey, it doesn't matter what it looks like. They're all unique," Lindsay said, "No other baby will have onesies like this."

"True at least Stephanie and Lane are creative so you'll have a few nicely done one's," Rory told her.

In addition to having dozens of onesies decorated by all the guests they played several other baby shower games. They did a basic word scramble of baby things. The guests were given a list of twenty words like diaper and bottle to unscramble. They played a game of match the kid to the movie where they are given a list of names of children from movies and had to name the movie the child was from.

"Is anyone surprised Lorelai won that one?" Lindsay's mother Theresa asked as she handed Lorelai her prize.

"I'm just surprised Rory didn't tie with her," May, Dean's mother said.

"And now for our next game," Clara, Deans younger sister said, "I'm going to play clips of songs that feature the word 'baby' in either the song or the title. There are ten I'm going to play and you have to write down the title of each song."

"The person who correctly guesses the most will get the gift certificate to Sophie's Music," Theresa said.

"And bonus points if you get the band or artist as well as the song title," Clara said.

After all ten clips were played, Clara read over the title and performer for each song. Everyone there knew "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles and "Baby Beluga" by Raffi while most were able to recognize "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears. It was only Lane, Rory, and Lorelai who were able to identify "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice.

"And with all ten songs and performers correct, our winner is Lane Kim," Clara said.

"I can't believe you recognized that Aaron Carter song," Rory said.

"I know. I heard some girls listening to it in the hallway in school once and for some reason it stuck," Lane said, "I almost didn't answer that one, but I knew no one else would recognize it so it would be sure to put me ahead. I could use some new sticks so I wanted that gift certificate."

* * *

In between decorating onesies and playing games they feasted on snacks of mini-sandwiches, crab cakes, skewers, and other assorted finger foods. May and Theresa wanted the menu to be something light and simple since it was a holiday and a lot of people would be going out that evening and also so everyone could snack on things throughout the party as they played the games and colored the onsies.

"Are you ready to open your presents?" Theresa asked her daughter.

"Yeah, let's do it," Lindsay said, shifting in her chair a bit.

"Are you alright, babe?" Dean asked her, taking a seat next to her so they could open their presents together.

"Yeah, Jamie's just kicking this spot on my back and hit hurts," Lindsay told him.

"You want a pillow or something?" Rory asked.

"That would be great, Rory, thanks," Lindsay told her, taking the card off the first package Dean had on his lap to open, "This one is from Babette and Morey."

"Here you go," Rory said when she came back with the pillow.

"Thanks, help me up Dean so I can get it in the right spot," Lindsay said.

"Sure," he said, placing the half open present on the table next to him.

"Oh no!" Lindsay said, gripping Dean's hands tightly as she stood up.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"I think my water just broke," Lindsay said, getting the attention from the other guests, staring at the puddle beneath her.

"You're not due for another three weeks," Dean said.

"Well, guess what Dean, your son as other ideas," she told him, "Sorry, everyone. Seems the party is over."

"Clara, sweetheart, run to the house and grab Lindsay's bag," May said as she and Theresa approached their children to help Lindsay to the car, "Looks like we're going to have a New Year's baby."

With their apartment only having one bedroom, Dean and Lindsay needed a bigger place so they could have a room for the baby. So, to help them save money so they could afford a bigger place, Dean's parents let them move into their house. They fixed up the attic for Clara so Dean and Lindsay could have his old room and Clara's room for the baby. Living there also gave Dean and Lindsay extra help if they needed it.

* * *

Once they reached the hospital and Lindsay was taken into a room to see how far she was progressing, May and Theresa joined her and Dean while the others sat in the waiting room. Both Lindsay and Dean's fathers stayed in the waiting room along with Clara. Dean's older sister and brother-in-law went back to their parents house to wait until the baby arrived so Dean's five-year-old nephew wouldn't be bored waiting at the hospital. Lorelai and April returned to the house after helping with clean up at Miss Patty's so Riley and Tristan could join Rory and Stephanie at the hospital while they awaited the arrival of their friend's baby.

"So much for our New Year's Eve plans," Tristan said, placing an arm around Rory as she curled up against him the waiting room, five hours after Lindsay went into labor.

"Eh, I'm not much of a partier anyway," Rory said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"True and this is better anyway," he said, kissing the top of her head, "What better way to welcome in the new year, than with a new life."

"Very true," Riley said.

"Do you think he'll be here before midnight or will he wait until the new year is actually here?" Stephanie asked, leaning against Riley as they sat on the other end of the couch from Rory and Tristan.

"He's early for a reason," Rory said, "He'll wait until midnight and make his appearance right when 2006 gets here."

"You think so?" Riley asked.

"Oh, yeah and it will be perfect for them. Think of all the stuff they'll get having a New Year's baby and they could really use it," Rory said.

"Yeah, I guess the kid had the foresight to know that coming tonight would be really beneficial for his family," Riley said.

A couple hours later, Riley and Tristan noticed the girls were starting to fall asleep.

"I guess it's a good thing we couldn't make it to Logan's party," Tristan said, "They couldn't even make it past ten without falling asleep."

"It's been a long day," Riley said, moving Stephanie so she was laying with her head on Tristan's shoulder while Rory now lay with her head in Tristan's lap, "I'm going to go get us all some coffee."

"We'll be here," Tristan said, laughing a bit as Stephanie moved her head around a bit, trying to find a comfortable spot on his shoulder as he continued to run his fingers through Rory's hair.

Roughly two hours later, everyone was wide awake in the waiting room, watching the TV as they awaited the ball drop to welcome in the new year. Lindsay had been in labor for nearly nine hours. May and Theresa came out a few minutes before to tell them the baby was coming soon. Lindsay was fully dilated and ready to deliver her son into the world.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six….

"Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year, Mary," Tristan said before kissing her.

"Happy New Year, Tris," Rory told him.

"Happy New Year, Baby Girl," Riley told her, hugging her after he kissed his own girlfriend and Rory separated from Tristan.

"Happy New Year, Big Brother," Rory said, hugging him tight to her.

A few minutes later, the waiting friends and family were joined in the room by the newly proud father.

"He's here," Dean said, coming into the waiting room, hugging his father and Lindsay's, "Lindsay did amazing. Our Mom's are with her them now. She wanted me to tell everyone."

"And they're both alright, Lindsay and the baby?" Rory asked.

"They're fine. He's beautiful, our little boy. Jameson Davis Forester. Six pounds, eight ounces, twenty inches long," Dean said.

"What time was he born?" Dean's father asked.

"12:01 AM," Dean said, "The first New Year's baby in Hartford in years."

"Congratulations, Dean," Rory said, giving him a hug.

"Thanks, Rory," Dean said.

"When can we see him?" Clara asked.

"Soon, they're getting him cleaned up and all his first tests done, but soon," Dean said, "I can't believe it. I'm a father."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: "I see you've finally tamed down your crazy hair."

* * *

"What is that and why is it here and on the coffee table?" Rory asked coming into the Twickham House Friday afternoon. Her last class was cancelled and decided to come home to spend a few hours with her now one month old sister before they all went to the Gilmore's for dinner.

"Well, that, my ivy league educated daughter, is a dog," Lorelai told her, when Rory joined her on the couch, handing Sophie to her, "And the coffee table is his favorite place to sit. He likes to look around and feel important."

"Okay, but why is he here? You don't have a dog," Rory said.

"I do now," Lorelai said, "Rory, meet Paul Anka."

"Paul Anka?" Rory asked.

"Yep," Lorelai said.

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Because he is incredibly talented and…" Lorelai began.

"No, I mean, why did you get a dog? When did you get a dog?" Rory asked.

"This week. We had a pet fair and I saw him when I was out taking a walk with Sophie and just had to have him," Lorelai told her.

"But, we don't do pets, Mom," Rory said, "Remember, Skippy."

"Oh, that was a long time ago," Lorelai said.

"And the turtle," Rory reminded her.

"Again, a long time ago," Lorelai said, "And before you say it that baby chick getting loose was not my fault."

"You really think you can handle a dog as well as Sophie?" Rory asked.

"Yes, he has his quirks, I'm learning that, but he is incredibly sweet and really protective of Sophie," Lorelai told her.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, we went on a walk today and anytime someone stopped us and wanted to pick up Sophie, he growled at them," Lorelai said.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Rory said, "Sophie's got another protector."

* * *

"I can't believe I let you two talk me into this," Jess said as he walked through town with Olivia and Rory a couple weeks later.

"We can't help it you're easily persuadable," Rory said.

"Oh, yes, because it was so much fun the last time," Jess said, "When do my reinforcements get here?"

"April is helping Luke at the diner and will be out here with Jay as soon as he gets here. He had an assignment he wanted to finish before coming," Rory told him, "Steph has a late class and will try to come after."

"And Riley and Tristan?' Jess asked.

"They are on Sophie duty for now, but April and I will trade off with them later. We're taking turns with her while mom mans her Doggy Swami booth," Rory said.

"Doggy Swami. That's so incredibly ridiculous," Jess said, "It's so Lorelai."

"I think it's cute," Olivia said, "It's different and I bet Paul Anka looks adorable in his outfit."

"Oh, he does," Rory told her, "Let's go get our fortune's told and you can see for yourself."

"Rory?" they heard Clara call a few minutes later as they made their way towards Lorelai and Paul Anka.

"Great, Deja vu," Jess said, seeing Clara approach them.

"Jess, be nice," Rory said, "Hey Clara."

"Hi, Rory. Jess," Clara said, "I see you've finally tamed down your crazy hair."

"And I see you're still just as exasperating as ever," he said.

"Jess!" Rory said.

* * *

"Okay, everyone, step right up and let Doggy Swami reveal your future," Lorelai said Rory, Jess, and Olivia walked up.

"Hey, Mom," Rory said.

"Hey, kid. Jess, Olivia, good to see you," Lorelai said, "You want Doggy Swami to tell your fortune."

"I'll pass," Jess said.

"I'm game," Olivia said.

"Okay, just give the wheel a spin," Lorelai told her.

"Alright, here goes nothing," Olivia said, giving the wheel in front of Paul Anka a spin, the wheel spinning a few times before he placed his paw out to stop it, taking the paper from Lorelai that told her fortune, " _You will move to a new home within the year_. Hmm, interesting. I guess it's true. I'll be in a different dorm for senior year."

"How about an apartment?" Jess asked.

"An apartment? I'd need a roommate for that and I barely like the one's the school has insisted on sticking me with every year," Olivia said.

"Well, what if that roommate was me?" he asked.

"What, are you serious?" she asked.

"I am. Move in with me," Jess said, taking a key out of his pocket to give to her.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you? You already have a place in mind?" Olivia asked.

"Yes and no. This is just the key to Truncheon until we find a place we both like. I figured we could look for something together and then at the end of the school year when you move out of the dorm we could move in together," Jess told her.

"And you're sure about this? You really want this?" Olivia asked.

"More than I want my second novel to be a success," he told her.

"I love you, Jess," Olivia told him, taking the key from his hand, hugging him before stepping back to give him a kiss.

"I love you, too," Jess told her, returning her kiss before pulling away and taking her hand in his, "Thanks for your help, Lorelai."

"Anytime," Lorelai said.

"Wait, you knew he was going to ask her to move it?" Rory asked.

"Of course, you didn't think it was a coincidence she got that fortune, did you?" Lorelai asked.

"Unbelievable," Rory said as she took out each fortune on the wheel, finding each was written with the same fortune.

"I had to guarantee Paul Anka would predict the right future," Lorelai said, replacing all the fortunes for her next customers.

* * *

"There's the cutest baby boy in the world," Rory said as she walked away from Jess and Olivia to give them some time to themselves upon seeing Dean and Lindsay.

"My son is not cute," Dean said, "He's handsome."

"He's adorable and you know it so get it over it," Rory said, taking the baby from Lindsay's arms, "Do you want me to watch him awhile so you can enjoy the carnival?"

"You'd do that?" Lindsay asked.

"Of course. I watch Sophie all the time. I know what I'm doing," Rory told her.

"Well, thanks Rory, yeah, that would be great. My arms could use a break," Lindsay said.

"It's no problem. Just leave me his diaper bag. We'll be fine. Won't we Jamie," Rory said, looking down at the month old little boy in her arms, his head buried in her chest under a blanket, his little fist holding tight to the front of her coat.

"If you're sure," Dean said, handing the diaper bag to Rory.

"I'm sure. Now go. Have fun," Rory said.

"Hey, Mary," Tristan said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before joining her on the bench she was sitting on with Jamie, kissing his forehead lightly as he sat down next to Rory, "How'd you end watching this little guy?"

"I offered," Rory told him, handing Jamie to him so she could rest her arms, "I ran into to Lindsay and Dean and offered to watch him for a bit so they could enjoy some time alone."

"That was nice of you," Tristan said, running his finger across Jamie's cheek as he continued to sleep.

"What happened to Sophie? Where's Riley?" Rory asked, curling herself against Tristan when he adjusted Jamie to one arm so he could place the other around Rory.

"April and Jay are watching Sophie back at the house and Riley is around here somewhere with Steph," Tristan told her.

"This is nice," Rory said, feeling her eyes begin to close and Tristan ran his hand up and down her shoulder.

"What is?" he asked.

"This, us. Sitting here with you like this, with Jamie," she said, "It makes me wonder…"

"Wonder what?" he asked her.

"If this is what it will be like for us in a few years," she said.

"You think about that?" Tristan asked.

"Of course, don't you?" Rory asked.

"All the time," he told her, kissing the top of her head, "I can't wait for the day when it's our baby I'm holding. Not that I'm in a rush to have one."

"Me either, but it's nice to think about," she said, "Another blonde haired, blue eyed, mischievous little boy."

"Or another, brown haired, blue eyed, studious, little Mary," Tristan told her, kissing her lips softly, "Just like you."

"I guess that would be nice, too," Rory said, "But, we have a long time for that. Until after graduation at least. Maybe a few years later than that."

"Makes sense. I'd like to spend some time getting my career started as you would, too, I'm sure," Tristan said.

"Right and it would be nice to be married first and maybe spend a year or two, just us," Rory said, "So we're free to travel and do whatever. I wouldn't want to do a bunch of traveling that would require leaving a kid at home with a nanny or something."

"No nannies," Tristan said, "I hated having them."

"I agree. I want to raise my children myself, not let some other woman feed and clothe them or read them their bedtime stories," Rory said, "Wow."

"What?" Tristan asked

"Did we just plan our future?" Rory asked.

"I think we did, though it's not exactly set in stone. I'm open to changes," he said.

"What kind of changes?" she asked.

"Anything, everything. As long as you're part of my future, I'm open to anything," he said.

"Me, too," she agreed, kissing him before returning her head to his shoulder, closing her eyes again.

* * *

A week after the carnival, Rory and Tristan were in their apartment watching a movie when the doorman called to let them know they had visitors.

"Dean and Lindsay are on their way up," Tristan said after hanging up the phone.

"Huh, I wonder what they want. They never said anything when we last saw them about coming over for anything," Rory said, going into the kitchen to get drinks for all of them while Tristan waited by the door the let them in.

"Hey, I hope this isn't a bad time," Dean said as they came into the apartment.

"Not at all, have a seat. Rory's just getting drinks," Tristan said.

"Hi, guys," Rory said, bringing four mugs into the living room, setting them on the coffee table, "I though hot chocolate would be nice since it's so cold out and since we don't have any decaf I didn't want you to be the only one not drinking coffee, Lindsay."

"Hot chocolate is perfect," Lindsay said, taking a cup off the table.

"So, what brings you guys to New Haven?" Rory asked, taking her own cup before leaning back on the couch with Tristan's arm around her.

"Well, we wanted to talk to you about something," Dean said.

"Okay, what's up?" Rory asked.

"Well, you know neither Lindsay or I are really religious and our parents aren't either," Dean said.

"Right," Rory said.

"Okay, well, even with that fact, our mother's with some heavy insisting from our grandmother's want us to have a baptism for Jamie," Lindsay said.

"Really?" Rory asked, "They want you to have Jamie baptised."

"Yeah and Reverend Skinner has already agreed to it," Dean said, "Our Mom's have everything planned. It's in two weeks at the church and we're having a little post-baptism party or whatever at the inn. Sookie's is catering."

"Of course. Who better," Rory said.

"They've basically planned this whole thing without any input from us," Dean said.

"But there is one thing they haven't done and we insisted if we had to do this, then we would make this choice ourselves," Lindsay said.

"What's that?" Tristan asked.

"Godparents for Jamie," Dean said, "And we want you two to do it."

"Wait, what, us?" Rory asked.

"Yes. You're both so great with him. We watched you two for awhile at the carnival and just seemed to natural," Lindsay told her.

"If anything were to happen to the two of us, we can't think of any two people better to raise Jamie than you guys," Dean told them.

"Plus, we know you'll be a great influence on him anyway Rory with all the books you read," Lindsay said.

"I bet you'll have him reading Jane Austen by age ten," Dean said.

"That is definitely possible," Rory said.

"So, what do you guys say?" Dean asked, "Will you do it?"

Looking at each other for a minute, Tristan and Rory squeezed each other's hand before turning back to Lindsay and Dean.

"Absolutely," Tristan said.

"We'd be happy to, Dean," Rory said.

"Thank you. This means so much to us," Dean said, shaking Tristan's hand before giving Rory a hug, "And I'm sure it will mean a lot to Jamie when he's older and knows he can always turn to you guys if he needs to."

"Thank you both, so much," Lindsay said, giving Rory and Tristan both a hug before sitting back down next to Dean.

"So, are you guys able to stay for dinner or do you have to get back?" Rory asked.

"We can stay," Dean said, "My Mom is watching Jamie."

"Great cause I'm starving," Rory said, "Tris why don't you show Dean the kitchen and you two can get started while Lindsay and I stay here and gossip about the two of you."

"You're cooking dinner?" Dean asked.

"Yep and it appears you're helping," Tristan said, "Let's go, Bag Boy."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: "Hmm, you and me in an empty newsroom. Oh the possibilities,"

* * *

Two weeks after Rory and Tristan agreed to be Jamie's godparents they were in Stars Hollow with all of Dean and Lindsay's family and friends celebrating Jameson Davis Forester with a little party at the inn after the baptism. Sookie had pulled out all the stops, preparing a feast for the little crowd that gathered at the inn. She was thankful now to have had the practice of preparing for a post baptism party when her mother-in-law insisted on Davey and Martha being baptised.

A week later while going into the Daily News office to check on a few things before a date with Tristan, Rory found Riley frantically running around the newsroom.

"What's going on?" Rory asked.

"The paper's not going to come out," he told her.

"What?" Rory asked.

"D-Day, the paper came. Kennedy gets shot, the paper comes out. But one week of you leaving me in charge," Riley said, "I failed. You asked me to handle this so you could focus on your paper and I couldn't do it."

"You didn't fail. Now, I need you to focus. What's going on? Where is everyone?" Rory asked him.

"Sick," he said.

"Seriously? Bill, Joni, Sheila?" she asked.

"Everyone. Who you see here is it, except Paris and Logan," he told her.

"What happened?" Rory asked.

"Food poisoning," Riley said.

"What? How?" Rory asked.

"Bill brought in some weird soy, apple. I don't know, some sort of muffins his mother made that sounded less appetizing than chewing on cardboard," Riley said, "Everyone you see here are the only one's who didn't eat any. And Paris since she refuses to eat anything if she doesn't know where it came from and Logan, cause well, he's never here."

"Well, he'll be here now. Get Paris on the phone. Tell her we need her," Rory said, taking out her phone to give Logan a call, "Huntzberger. Office! Now!"

* * *

"What the hell, Ace. I was in the middle of something very important," Logan said walking into the newsroom ten minutes later.

"You mean you were in the middle of _someone_ very important," Rory said, "Whoever she is, she can wait until later. I need you here!"

"Fine, what's going on? I've never seen this place so empty," Logan said.

"Food poisoning," Riley said, "Paris is on her way, she's just waiting for her old nanny to come stay with Doyle."

"He got sick, too?" Rory asked.

"Yeah and she'd stay with him, but she's needed here," Riley said.

"And sick people freak her out," Rory said.

"She's pre-med," Logan said.

"It's Paris," Rory told him.

"Right, so what do you need me to do?" Logan asked.

"Anything helpful. We have four hours to get the paper out. I've already called and asked for an extension from the printer," Rory said, "But we need to get everything finalized."

"We're a little short on content and a few things that are ready still need to be entered into the computer," Riley said.

"Okay, I have a few things I've been dabbling with if you want to take a look at them and I can get these typed in," Logan said, taking the stack of pages from Riley.

"Seriously?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, I type ninety words a minute. It will be done in no time," Logan said.

"Thanks. Okay. Let's get to work," Rory said, leaving Logan to his typing and sitting at her desk to pull up the stories Logan had been working on to see if any could be used to fill the space they had, "Oh, crap!"

"What's wrong?" Riley asked.

"I was supposed to meet Tristan at home over an hour ago," Rory said, looking at the time on her computer, "Shoot."

"It's fine. You keep working. I'll call him and have him come down here," Riley said, "Maybe he can help with something and then you guys can go to dinner when we're done."

"Thanks, Ry," Rory said.

"No problem, Baby Girl," Riley said.

* * *

"Okay so Tristan's on his way and said he would help Logan getting the rest of those articles typed in," Riley said.

"Yeah, he types pretty fast, too," Rory said, not looking up from the article she was reading.

"Is that one of Logan's?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, it's good, too," Rory said.

"Except for the spelling," Riley said, noticing Rory was fixing the spelling on a few words Logan missed.

"Yeah, he needs to spell check better, but he's a good writer," Rory said.

"Are they good enough to use for tonight's issue?" Riley asked.

"Yep. I just have to finish proofing this last one," Rory told him.

"Good. Steph's coming, too. She has a few pictures she's taken of things around campus we could throw in if we still have space to fill," Riley said.

"Perfect," Rory said, finishing the last paragraph on Logan's article and saving it, "Done. Now I just have to get these into the layout."

* * *

"How's the typing going?" Rory asked, coming to the desk Logan and Tristan were sitting at.

"I'm finishing the last one, Mary," Tristan told her.

"And I just finished going through that Greenspan interview that Bill did and got an article written for it," Logan said.

"You what?" Rory asked.

"Relax. I left it for you to proof, but it should be fine. I know all the technical jargon he used and made sure to triple check my spelling," Logan said.

"No, it's fine. I was just surprised. Thank you," Rory told him, "I'm sorry about our dinner."

"It's fine. We can get something when we're done here, take it back to the apartment and do something this weekend," Tristan said, taking her hand and pulling her into his lap, kissing her cheek before whispering into her ear, "We could even do something in here when everyone's gone."

"Hmm, you and me in an empty newsroom. Oh the possibilities," Rory said, biting his ear before kissing his cheek, "But, for that to happen, we have to get this finished so back to work."

"Damn. I wish I didn't take that year off," Logan said after Rory walked away.

"Why?" Tristan asked.

"Cause than I may have had a shot," Logan said.

"Doubt that. It took awhile for her to warm up to me and she already knew me," Tristan said, "You two years ago was exactly like me in high school, if not worse. She would have hated you."

"Maybe, but I could have won her over eventually," Logan said.

"Keep dreaming, man," Tristan said, "Let's get this done. I have a date to look forward to."

* * *

Over the next two hours before the paper had to be submitted to the printer, the remaining staff along with Tristan and Stephanie worked together to get everything finalized and ready for the edition. Rory and Riley were grateful that Stephanie volunteered a few pictures as they ended up having a bit of space left to fill after all the articles were finalized in the layout. So, amongst the articles and photos that the staff took were a few pictures Stephanie took of them and some of their friends around campus with captions indicating the various Yalies hanging out on the quad or near the coffee cart.

"I can't believe we did it," Rory said, sitting at her desk after everyone left the room once the paper was submitted while Tristan massaged her shoulders for her, "That feels good."

"I can believe it. Between you and Riley, busting everyone's ass to get it all down, no way was paper not going to come out," Tristan said, continuing to massage her shoulders, lowering his head to kiss her neck.

"Mmm, don't stop," Rory said as Tristan moved her hair aside, kissing her neck and collarbone, placing small bites to her ear as he moved his hands from her shoulders to around front; running his hands along her stomach under her top, "Tris!"

"What do you need, Rory?" he asked, continuing his assault on her neck as he began to remove her top.

"You, all of you," she said, spinning around in her chair, standing up and pushing Tristan down into her seat, placing herself in his lap, straddling his waist as she began to kiss him while unbuttoning his dress shirt, "I love you so much."

"I love you, too Mary."

* * *

"How are the wedding plans going, Lorelai?" Emily asked the following week at Friday Night Dinner. This week was just Lorelai with Rory and Riley. Sophie had come down with a cold so Luke and April were at home with her.

"Well, Sookie and I went to a flower mart the other day to have a look around, see if there was anything we liked," Lorelai said.

"I thought you decided on irises?" Rory asked, "Didn't you find any?"

"None that stood out to me," Lorelai said, "There were a lot of really nice ones and some of the people were willing to haggle so we could get a good deal on some of them, but nothing seemed right. Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense. You obviously know what you don't want and have an idea in mind of what the flowers should look like. I'm sure that when you see the one's you want, you'll know," Emily said.

"Maybe. The roses are lovely, Mom," Lorelai told her.

"Thank you," Emily said.

"They're beautiful," Rory said.

"Your grandmother has always been an excellent flower arranger," Richard said.

"Perhaps you missed your calling then, Grandma," Riley said.

"That's it," Lorelai said.

"What's it?" Rory asked.

"The roses," Lorelai said.

"But, you're looking for irises," Rory reminded her.

"I know, but Mom, you've had irises in the garden before, right?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes, every year," Emily said, "What about them?"

"I need to look at them. Do you have pictures?" Lorelai asked.

"Of course. Just a minute," Emily said, getting up from the table.

"What's this about, Mom?" Riley asked.

"I think the one's Mom has every year are what I've been looking for. It's why nothing else seems right. The picture I've had in my head of what they need to look like, I'm sure they're Mom's," Lorelai said.

"Here you go, Lorelai," Emily said, handing her an album with a few pictures of her garden in it, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"They're perfect," Lorelai said once she found a few pictures of the irises, "Look, Rory."

"Oh, wow. They're beautiful Grandma," Rory said.

"What is this about Lorelai?" Emily asked.

"Mom, would you be willing to supply the flowers for my wedding?" Lorelai asked.

"Are you serious?" Emily asked.

"These are perfect. They're exactly what I had in mind when decided on irises for the wedding," Lorelai said.

"Really?" Emily asked, "You want to use flowers from my garden for your wedding?"

"I do. I want the best and these are it," Lorelai said.

"Well, I'd be honored," Emily said, "Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: "When do I get to take this silly thing off?"

* * *

"We should go away this weekend," Tristan said as they got ready after their morning shower.

"I can't this weekend's bad. I have so much stuff to do between school and the paper," Rory said.

"Every weekend is bad," Tristan said, "Come on, we haven't spent any serious alone time together in ages and you're going to Atlantic City over spring break so that will be a whole week where we won't see each other. Let's do something. Even if it's just one night."

"Maybe I can do one night. My last class is cancelled for Friday and I can talk to Grandma about getting out of dinner so we'd have most of Friday and all of Saturday," Rory said, "We just have to be back Saturday evening so I'm here for brunch Sunday morning and so I have time to prepare for my classes next week."

"Perfect. I'll make plans today. Anywhere you want to go?" Tristan asked.

"Nothing specific comes to mind. Surprise me," Rory said.

"Dangerous words considering you don't like surprises, but okay. I'll think of something," Tristan said.

* * *

"Okay, so I just found out I'm completely free Friday," Rory said, walking into the kitchen of their apartment where Tristan was preparing dinner, "I just got an e-mail from my professor. She has a family emergency and has to go out of town this weekend so I'm free after one tomorrow if we're able to leave then or earlier Friday morning."

"We can leave tomorrow. I just have to make a couple of calls, add an extra day on our reservations," Tristan said.

"Perfect, now I just need to go where we're going so I can make my suitcase," Rory said.

"Nope, you said I could surprise you so I'm keeping our destination to myself," he said, stepping away from the stove to stand in front of her, placing his hands on her hips.

"How am I supposed to pack if I don't know where we're going or what we're doing?" she asked.

"You leave it to me," he said, pulling her closer to him, "I already packed your suitcase, but now that we're going an extra day I'll have to add a bit to it."

"Not fair," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Tough," he said, kissing her forehead before turning back towards the stove to take their dinner out of the oven.

* * *

"Okay, Tristan and I have your bags in my car, let's get going," Riley said, coming into the apartment Thursday afternoon.

"Your car?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, Riley is driving us to the airport so we don't have to leave one of our cars there," Tristan said.

"The airport? We're flying somewhere?" Rory asked.

"Well, I wasn't exactly planning on walking," Tristan said.

"Smart ass, but if we're flying you had to have bought tickets beforehand. You were able to change them last minute?" Rory asked.

"Trust me?" Tristan asked, not answering her question.

"Without a doubt," Rory said.

"Good, then let's go," Tristan said, taking her hand and leading her out the door.

"Ry, do you know where we're going?" Rory asked as they drove to the airport.

"All I know is it's somewhere too far to drive to when you're only going for a couple of days," Riley said, "You'd end up spending more time in the car than enjoying your destination.

"You both suck, you know that," Rory said.

"You'll love it so just relax. We'll be at the airport soon and in the air to our destination in no time," Tristan said, placing an arm around her as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"What's that?" Rory asked as they walked to an area of airport she had never been before and saw a plane that seemed to be waiting for them.

"The Huntzberger jet," Tristan told her, "I asked Uncle Mitchum if we could use it. This way we have privacy and we're not tied to a time schedule of having to make our flight at a certain time. The plane leaves when we want."

"Wow. I've never been on a private plane before," Rory said, looking at the plane a second more before turning to kiss Tristan, "Thank you."

"Anything for my Mary," Tristan told her, kissing her again, "Thanks for driving us, Riley. We'll call when we're on our way back Saturday."

"Sounds good. Have fun. I'll see you in a few days," Riley said before hugging Rory, "Have a good time, Baby Girl."

"Thanks, Ry. I will," Rory said, "See you later, Big Brother."

"Alright, let's get this little vacation started," Tristan said, taking Rory's hand again and leading her towards the plane.

"This is really nice. The chairs are more comfortable than any plane I've been on before," Rory said.

"Yeah, with all the traveling he does visiting the different Huntzberger papers, Uncle Mitchum thought it would be a sound investment to have a plane of his own," Tristan said.

"Oh, definitely," Rory said, "Money may not be an issue to fly first class whenever he feels like it, but I'm sure it's easier and probably quieter if he has to do any business while in the air to have a plane of his own."

"Exactly," Tristan said.

* * *

"Okay so I really don't want you to know where we are until we get to where we're staying," Tristan said as the plane came to a stop and they unbuckled their seat belts.

"Alright. How do you suppose we accomplish that?" Rory asked.

"With this," Tristan said, taking a blindfold out of his pocket, "It won't be on long. Just for the drive from the airport."

"And you won't let me trip down the stairs when we get off, right?" Rory asked.

"Of course not," Tristan said.

"Fine, I'll do it," Rory said as Tristan tied the blindfold around her head, "But I better like this DuGrey."

"You'll love it, trust me," he told her, taking her hand and leading her towards the front of the plane, "Okay, just hold onto my hand and take small steps."

"You know it's good thing we took a private plane," Rory said.

"Why's that?" Tristan asked, "One more step."

"Because this way I don't have thousands of people staring at me as we walk through the terminal," Rory told him.

"Good point," he said with a laugh, leading her towards the car that was waiting for them, taking the keys from the driver that brought it, "Okay, I'm going to open the door so you can get in."

"Thank you," Rory said as he helped her into the passenger seat of car so she didn't bump her head getting in, "When do I get to take this silly thing off?"

"Soon, it's only a twenty minute drive from here," he told her, "You can take it off when we've arrived."

Twenty minutes later they arrived at their destination and Tristan asked Rory to stay in the car while he checked them in, telling her to keep the blindfold on as they still had to drive a bit to get to their room. A few minutes later they were on the move again. Stopping in front of where they were staying, Tristan got out of the car to open Rory's door, leading her out of the car and placing her in just the right spot before removing her blindfold.

"Oh, my!" Rory said once her eyes adjusted to the light and she the little two level cabin in front of her; a wooden plaque on the front indicating the cabin was called Sophia's Sapphire, "Where are we?"

"Asheville, North Carolina," Tristan told her.

"North Carolina?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, I may have hated coming here at first and military school sucked, but it's a beautiful state," he said as he lead her towards the cabin after taking their bags out of the trunk, "And when we had a free weekend or a break or something, Riley and I would sometimes travel to different parts of the state and this area was one of them."

"It's beautiful here," Rory said, taking in the wooded area around them, loving the quiet. Only hearing the sounds of the slight wind blowing through the trees and the water she heard flowing in the stream in the distance.

* * *

After taking their suitcases into their room and having a look around the cabin that would be their home for the next couple of days, Tristan led Rory back out to their rental car so they could get to their dinner reservations.

"So where are we going for dinner?" Rory asked as they got on the road.

"A little place called The Corner Kitchen," Tristan told her, "It's just a few miles away."

"Have you been there before?" she asked.

"Once. Riley and I went there one weekend when the academy brought us out here to hike a trail near Blue Ridge Parkway," he said.

"We're going to take drive on it, right?" Rory asked.

"Absolutely," he said, "That's the plan for tomorrow afternoon."

"Great. I've heard it's beautiful," she said.

"Gorgeous," he said, locking eyes with hers, bringing a blush to her cheeks before taking her hand in his, kissing her knuckles.

"This place is adorable," Rory said, taking in the old victorian home that had been turned into The Corner Kitchen.

"Come on," Tristan said, opening her door after they parked, taking her hand as they walked towards the front door of the restaurant.

"Everything sounds delicious," Rory said as they looked over the menu once they were seated.

"I know and I like that they have a variety of options without having too large of a menu," Tristan said.

After several minutes of indecision, Rory and Tristan decided on getting the New York strip steak and the duck breast and would share both so they could each try something different. They also got The Corner Kitchen's mixed bread basket so they could sample their biscuits, corn muffins, and pesto ciabatta bread.

"Tell me we're staying for dessert," Rory said as they finished their entrees and waited for the waiter to clear their plates.

"We can. Did something catch your eye?" Tristan asked.

"Yes, the chocolate mousse cake," Rory told him.

"Sounds delicious," Tristan said, "I'm thinking I want the cheesecake."

"With strawberries?" Rory asked.

"Definitely," he said.

After dinner they went back to their cabin, spending a couple hours in the hot tub outside their backdoor before turning in for the evening. Friday morning after having breakfast out on the porch, Tristan prepared a picnic lunch for them from the food he had arranged to have brought into their kitchen before they arrived so they could enjoy a picnic on the trail when they took their drive down Blue Ridge Parkway.

The remainder of their time in North Carolina was spent hanging out in the cabin watching movies, lounging on the hammock, or spending more time in the hot tub. Before they knew it, Saturday evening had arrived and they were back at the airport getting on the plane to go back to Connecticut.

"Thank you for taking me away this weekend," Rory said as the plane descended into Hartford, "I needed a break and this trip was the perfect way to do it."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Tristan said, kissing the top of her head as she laid her head on his shoulder when he wrapped his arm around her, "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," she said before lifting her head from his shoulder to kiss him.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Time for some post twenty-first birthday fun in Atlantic City!

* * *

Chapter 8: "I can't believe you guys are twenty-one already,"

* * *

"Okay, the car is all packed and everyone is ready to go accept you, Mom," Riley said.

"I know. I just don't want to leave her," Lorelai said.

"Mom, she'll be fine. Luke is perfectly capable of taking care of Sophie," Rory told her, "And it's only for a few days. Plus we're just a short plane ride away if we need to get back in a hurry."

"And he's got April, not to mention the entire town will help if he needs them, too," Riley said.

"They're right, Lor. Sophie will be fine. Luke can take care of her on his own," Christopher told her, "And if he needs any backup, Sherry is spending the week in Hartford with my parents so Gigi can spend some time with her grandparents and can be here in minutes if he needs anything."

"I guess you're right. Luke's a pretty good Dad. I suppose I have to let him take care of his daughter on his own at some point, right," Lorelai said.

"Luke's a great dad, Mom, and you know it," Riley said.

"True, okay, I guess we better get on the road if we want to get there at a decent time and get checked in to our hotel," Lorelai said.

"My turn, finally?" Luke asked, approaching Lorelai to take their three month old daughter from her.

"Three more seconds," Lorelai said, kissing her daughter's forehead and breathing in her scent, "Mommy's going to miss you sweet girl. You be good for Daddy."

"She'll be an angel," Luke said, cradling Sophie in his arms before turning back to Lorelai, giving her a kiss, "Have a safe trip. Call me when you get there."

"We will. Call me if you need anything," Lorelai said, "I should have enough milk in the freezer, but if she won't take it…"

"We'll be fine, Lorelai. Just relax and have fun this week. You deserve it," Luke said.

"Okay. I'll call you when we get there," Lorelai said, hugging Luke, giving him and Sophie each a kiss, wiping away her tears that were starting to fall, "Let's go before I can't."

"See you in a few days Luke," Rory said, hugging him and giving Sophie a kiss, "Bye Soph."

"I'll see you soon Little One," Riley said, kissing Sophie, "Bye Luke."

* * *

After saying the rest of their goodbye's; first to April and then to Tristan and Stephanie, who weren't leaving until the next day, Rory and Riley joined their parents in the car Christopher rented for the drive to the airport. It wasn't too long of a drive if they wanted to take the car all the way to Atlantic City, but they wanted to spend as much time there as possible so they decided to fly.

Once arriving in Atlantic City, the were met by the driver Christopher hired for the week and driven to The Chelsea, the retro style hotel, right on the boardwalk that would be their home for the week. They had booked a suite with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's going to be quite the view in the morning, to sit out here and drink our first cup of coffee," Rory said as she and Riley stood in the sunroom of their suite while their parents got their things settled into their rooms.

"Wow, that's a view," Christopher said as he and Lorelai joined them.

"Everything settled?" Riley asked.

"Yep, everything's good. You and I have our own rooms and your Mom and Rory are sharing the last one," Christopher said.

"So, what now?" Rory asked, "Do we go straight to a casino or do we want to wait until midnight like we planned?"

"I'd like to wait until midnight," Lorelai said.

"I'd like that too," Christopher said.

"I could go for some food," Riley said, "I'm pretty hungry and I can only imagine you and Mom are starving."

"Funny, but true," Rory said, "Do we want to go out or try the diner here?"

"Definitely the diner here," Lorelai said, "I have yet to find anyone that can make a burger better than Luke."

"Let's see if we can find it then," Christopher said, leading the group towards the door of their suite so they could check out Teplitzky's.

* * *

Walking into the diner they were led to a booth and began pouring over the menu of burgers, sandwiches, and a selection of milkshakes.

"Oh, a butterfinger shake," Lorelai said.

"I know. I think I want that, too," Rory said, "That or the Oreo or s'mores'."

"Those sound good. The turtle, too," Lorelai said.

"You have to get food to, you know," Christopher reminded them.

"Yeah, yeah, oh, a spiked butterfinger shake. Maybe I'll do that," Lorelai said.

"It's been almost a year since you've had a drink, Mom," Riley reminded her, "You may want to ease into it."

"Maybe. I suppose I'll stick with the regular version and we can do the spiked one's another time," Lorelai said, "After all, we're having martini's tonight while we play blackjack."

After putting in their orders for their shakes they decided to start with an appetizer of nachos to begin their meal. Since they were in a diner and wanted to gage if the burgers were better than Luke's they all ordered one. Lorelai chose to stick with a classic cheeseburger while Rory and Riley both chose the morning after burger that was topped with bacon and a fried egg. Christopher decided to be adventurous and got the double dare burger with pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, and spicy mayonnaise.

"So, Mom, what's the verdict?" Riley asked as they left the diner and went for a walk on the boardwalk.

"It was a good burger. Really good, but nothing beats Luke's," Lorelai said.

"I agree. I liked it. I may have to see if I can get Luke to put an egg on a burger for me when we go home, but as good as it was, it's not Luke's," Rory said.

"I've only had a few burgers from Luke's, but I would have to agree, they're the best I've ever had," Christopher said.

"Same. Luke makes a damn good burger," Riley said.

* * *

After walking the boardwalk and having a look around the area surrounding their hotel they stopped for a late dinner before going to the Tropicana and taking their place at a blackjack table.

"I can't believe you guys are twenty-one already," Lorelai said wiping her tears as the four of them took spots at a table together, accepting the martini's from the waitress as their cards were dealt.

"I'd like to propose a toast before we play our first hand," Christopher said, "To Rory and Riley, twenty-one years young. These past two years, the two of you have made me the happiest I've been since the day I first held you in my arms. Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday, my babies," Lorelai said.

"Happy birthday, Baby Girl," Riley said, clinking his glass with hers.

"Happy birthday, Big Brother," Rory said.

A couple hours and several martini's later, the four of them went back to their hotel with their winnings, ready and eager to start buying their twenty-one things.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast where Rory and Lorelai decided to individually take on the Teplitzky's Challenge while the guys stuck to just having the stuffed French toast, they decided to split up for the day. While Christopher and Riley were going to start looking for and purchasing their half of the twenty-one things, Lorelai and Rory were hitting the spa at the Tropicana.

"Okay so we have ten things to buy. Mom and Rory are going to look for another ten," Riley said, "What about the last one?"

"We could all pick something out together," Christopher suggested.

"Like what?" Riley asked.

"I don't know. What about that artist we saw on the boardwalk yesterday," Christopher said.

"The one with the caricatures?" Riley asked.

"Yeah. We could get one done and make a few copies of it so we can all have one," Christopher said, "What do you think?"

"I like it. We'll talk to Mom and Rory about it when we meet up with them for dinner," Riley said.

"If they're even hungry," Christopher said, "I can't believe they ate all that food. Where do they even put it all?"

"Mom calls it the Lorelai paradox," Riley said.

"It's still amazes me. I mean, they ate almost four pounds of food a piece," Christopher said, "Pancakes, French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, and ham. It's crazy."

"I don't disagree. I don't understand it either, Dad and I stopped trying to a long time ago," Riley said.

After a few hours of walking the boardwalk and driving around to check out the other casino's a bit, Riley and Christopher had purchased most of their ten items. They got themselves matching flasks, a couple of key-chains, Tropicana shot glasses to remember the casino they celebrated at and some seashell cuff-links from a little stand on the boardwalk.

"We have to bring your sister and Lorelai to that shop so we can all get coffee mugs," Christopher said.

"Definitely. They'll spend hours trying to decide what they want. We were in there forty-five minutes and I still don't know what I want," Riley said.

"We'll go back there tomorrow," Christopher said as they walked into Margaritaville to get a table while they waited for the girls to get back from the spa.

* * *

"Oh man am I starved," Lorelai said when she and Rory joined the guys at the restaurant, "They only had healthy food."

"Yeah. Wheat-grass and granola," Rory said, "Who eats that?"

"Seriously, and don't get me started on that cucumber water," Lorelai said.

"So, aside from being starved to death did you ladies enjoy yourselves?" Christopher asked.

"Absolutely. Massages, aromatherapy, facials," Lorelai said.

"Manicures, pedicure, and that coconut sugar scrub," Rory said, "That was amazing."

"Plus, we're going back later this week," Lorelai said.

"Why?" Riley asked.

"Brazilian bikini wax," Rory told him.

"Ouch," Christopher said.

"Yeah, ouch and totally not something I need to know," Riley said.

"Well, you asked," Rory told him.

"I'll remember not to next time," Riley said.

"Great, so food," Lorelai said.

"Right so do we want to start with an appetizer or go right to an entree?" Christopher asked.

"I could go for some volcano nachos before my Cheeseburger in Paradise," Lorelai said.

"Really Mom, you're going that cliche," Riley said.

"Absolutely. And I'm getting a margarita, too," she said.

"Same, though I'm not sure which margarita to choose," Rory said.

"Well, I'm going to branch out and get the beach tacos," Riley said, "What about you Dad?"

"We're on the water so I'm thinking fish tacos. Should be fresh," Christopher said.

After placing their orders for their nachos and the rest of the food they began tasting the margarita's they all ordered. Riley decided to be bold and try the habanero margarita while Christopher got the Uptown Margarita. Rory and Lorelai ordered the Last Mango in Paris and Blackberry Moonshine Margaritas.

* * *

"Okay so we've got wine glasses, shot glasses, a few pieces of jewelry," Lorelai said, "What else should we get?"

"I don't know. What else did you guys get?" Rory asked.

"A lot of the same stuff you did," Riley said, "Though we got flasks instead of wine glasses."

"And some new cufflinks instead of jewelry," Christopher added.

"Dad had an idea for something we could all get," Riley said.

"What's that?" Lorelai asked.

"I was thinking we could have that artist on the boardwalk doing the caricatures do a picture of us," Christopher said.

"Oh, that would be nice," Rory said, "Then we could copy it so we could all have a copy and maybe the grandparents, too."

"Yeah, I like that idea," Lorelai said, "But the boardwalk is the other way. Where are we going?"

"Just this little shop Dad and I found yesterday," Riley said.

"Oh, my!" Lorelai said when they reached the shop and she saw the dozens of coffee mugs displayed in the window.

"It's a cornucopia of coffee mugs," Rory said.

"And they every size and shape you could imagine with hundreds of phrases to choose from," Riley said.

"I'm definitely getting the biggest cup I can find," Lorelai said.

"Me, too," Rory said as they walked into the store.

A couple hours later, they left the store, new mugs in hand. Christopher, not being as big a coffee drinker as his kids and Lorelai got an average sized mug with the phrase, 'coffee keeps me busy until it's acceptable to have a beer.' Lorelai, Rory, and Riley each chose the largest mug available.

"I love the mug you chose, Baby Girl," Riley said, "Happiness is a cup of coffee and a really good book."

"It's perfect, right," Rory said, "I like yours too. 'I don't have a problem with caffeine. I have a problem without caffeine.' Too funny."

"I think Mom has a beat, though," Riley said.

"Well, I just couldn't pass it up," Lorelai said admiring her coffee mug, reading the words, 'Without coffee there would be no me. Without me the world would be a sad place.'

"It's definitely a true statement," Christopher said, "I couldn't imagine a world without you in it."

"Me either, Mom," Rory said.

"Ditto," Riley said.

"Thanks, guys. You're all pretty great, too," Lorelai said.

* * *

After finishing buying their twenty-one things and having their caricature done , they spent the rest of the week trying out the restaurants at all the casino's and playing a few more games of blackjack and several different slot machines before it was time to go back home.

"So how was your trip?" Tristan asked as he helped Rory unpack when she got home.

"Amazing. It was the best post twenty-first birthday celebration I've ever been to," Rory said.

"It's the only one you've been to," Tristan said.

"True, that's why it's the best," she said.

"Right," he said.

"How about you? Did you have fun in Chicago? Did you see lots of stuff? Did you miss me?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, and oh so very much," he said, "It was a lot of fun. I'll have to take your there sometime. You'll love it. And as for missing you, I did almost nothing else this week."

"Aww, you're such a sap," she said, "But I love it. I missed you, too, Tris, so much."

"I love you, Mary," Tristan said, taking her into his arms to kiss her.

"I love you, Bible Boy," Rory said.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** I know, I know. It's been forever since I updated this. I posted new chapters for my other two stories a couple of days ago and finally got this one done. I have no excuses for it being so long so I won't give one. Okay, so for this chapter I borrowed a bit of dialogue from the episode "Bridesmaids Revisited." Also, I know it's short, but I wanted to end the chapter the way I did and I promise to post the next chapter soon. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9: "You didn't say a word,"

* * *

"So how was the panel?" Tristan asked as Rory and Riley joined him and Stephanie at the pub.

"Amazing," Rory said, taking of sip of Tristan's drink as she sat down next to him.

"It was incredible, man," Riley said, "Rory really wiped the floor with Pompous Princeton Guy."

"Really, that's great Mare," Tristan said, kissing her cheek, "I wish I could have been there."

"Me, too," she said, "But you had to go and agree to be in Honor's wedding."

"Yeah and the rehearsal had to be today, though I don't know why I had to be there. I'm just an usher," he said, "Why did I have to rehearse walking people to their seats?"

"I don't know, tradition?" Rory suggested.

"At least you were able to get out of the dinner though," Riley said.

"True, now that would have been a barrel of laughs," Tristan said.

"Did your parents go?" Stephanie asked.

"No, they're not even in the country right now," he said.

"Your mom isn't going to her own niece's wedding?" Rory asked.

"Nope. Her and Shira don't get along, haven't for most of their lives so Mom is abstaining," he said, "And Dad just doesn't care. Grandpa is going though. Honor's not even related to him and he's going to the wedding."

"That's because he's a good man. I'm glad you take after him," Rory said, linking her fingers with his and kissing his cheek.

"Thank you," he said, giving her a soft kiss.

"You're welcome," she said, "So without your parents would going to dinner have been so bad? I mean, you love Honor and Logan is there."

"True, but Honor's friends are just too…" he began.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Shallow. They're too much like Summer, you know," Tristan said, "Blondie, dipsy...I had more than enough of that at Chilton."

"Very true. I'm glad you decided to skip it and spend the evening with us," Rory said.

* * *

The next morning they were all in New York for Honor and Josh's wedding. Since Tristan had to get his tux on, Riley joined him with Josh, Logan, and the other guys when Honor grabbed Rory and Stephanie, asking them to hang out with the girls while they finished getting ready. Rory liked Honor, but wasn't really interested in hanging out with her ditzy friends so she was grateful to have brought a book with her to read.

"I really like your dress, Rory," Honor said when they got into the dressing room.

"Thanks," Rory said, "And you look amazing. Josh is a very lucky guy."

"He is, isn't he," Honor said with a laugh, "Okay so everyone this is Rory and Stephanie."

"Hi," Rory said.

"Hey," Stephanie said.

"Okay, so you may have met at the shower, but that's Walker, Alexandria, Megan, and Claude," Honor said, introducing all of her friends to Rory and Stephanie.

"Welcome to the final hours of Honor's maidenhood," Walker said.

"Yeah right, Honor's maidenhood didn't make it to upper school," Alexandria said.

"Not true. Turks and Caicos, 1996," Honor said.

"Anyway," Megan said, "we're here to celebrate these last precious hours before we lose Honor to the dark side."

"And to celebrate we drink," Walker said, handing glasses to Rory and Stephanie to fill with champagne.

"Okay, a toast," Honor said, raising her glass to her friends, "To friends, old and new, borrowed and blue. You guys are awesome."

"To Honor!"

* * *

Half an hour later the girls were all dressed and ready. Their hair was done and they were just putting the final touches on their makeup when the wedding planner came in to steal Honor away for some photos. Rory and Stephanie looked on in silent laughter as Honor's bridesmaids began to frantically check and recheck their hair for loose curls and be sure their makeup was perfect.

"You know what I really want to do tonight," Walker said, "I want to hook up with someone."

"Yeah, like who?" Claude asked.

"I don't know, anybody," Walker said.

"I'm sure they'll be plenty of eligible bachelors here tonight," Claude said.

"Really, who?" Walker asked.

"The groomsmen for starters," Megan said.

"Yeah, Tripp is looking good," Alexandria said.

"You always think that," Megan said.

"Because he is and you're one to talk," Alexandria said.

"Alexandria and Megan have both slept with Tripp," Claude told Stephanie and Rory.

"Small world," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes as she turned back to Rory, trying to ignore the girls conversation.

"Well, I'm with Liam, officially, you can have Tripp," Alexandria said.

"Tripp's to short," Walker said.

"What about Josh's brother?" Claude asked.

"Poor man's Josh, no thanks," Walker said.

"There's always Logan," Alexandria said.

"Eh, been there, done that," Walker said.

"What about Tristan or the Hayden guy I saw him with at the party on the yacht?" Megan asked.

"I don't know anything about the Hayden guy, but Tristan could be fun to have a go at again," Walker said.

"Will you guys shush," Claude said.

"What shush. You should talk," Walker said.

"Rory is Tristan's girlfriend," Claude told her.

"Oh, whoops, sorry," Walker said.

"Yeah, we had no idea," Megan told her.

"You've both slept with Tristan?" Rory asked.

"Well, yeah, who hasn't. It wasn't the King of Chilton for nothing," Megan told her.

"Um, when was this?" Rory asked.

"Oh, ages ago," Claude told her, "Back in '99, I think."

"You slept with him, too?" Rory asked.

"Slept with, no, but we did all fool around with, right?" Claude asked.

"Yeah, the summer of '99," Alexandria said, "That was the American Pie year, right?"

"The American Pie, year. Yes, that was good," Walker said, "Hey does he still do that Tongue Tornado. That was amazing."

"The what?" Rory asked.

"You know, the Tongue Tornado from the movie. He saw it once and mastered it," Walker told her, "Definitely the best orgasm I've ever had."

"Ladies, time to line up," the wedding planner said, coming into the room, "Rory, Stephanie, you better head to your seats."

"See you ladies later," Megan said as the four of them headed out the door.

"Are you alright, Rory?" Stephanie asked.

"Um, I'm not sure, but you better get out there. Riley's going to wonder where you are," Rory said.

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Stephanie said.

"Please Steph, I just need time to process this," Rory said, "And besides, with those girls, you may need to mark your territory."

"Okay, I'll see you later," Stephanie said, giving Rory a hug before leaving her in the dressing room alone.

* * *

"Here you are," Tristan said, walking into the bridal suite to find Rory sitting on the couch staring at the wall.

"Here am I," Rory said, avoiding eye contact.

"Are you alright? Steph said you weren't feeling well," he asked, taking a step towards her to kneel in front of her, "Hey, look at me."

"You didn't say a word," Rory said, her tears streaming down her face.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, reaching up to touch her face and wipe away her tears, only to have her push his hand away.

"You didn't say a word. You just let me walk into a room full of women you've hooked up with," Rory said.

"Rory," he said, trying to take her hand in his.

"Don't. Blondie, dizzy, I love the cover. Acting as if these girl are worthless idiots you couldn't stand to be around," Rory said.

"They are worthless idiots, shooting their mouths of like that in front of you," Tristan said, "But that was long time ago. Other than the rehearsal yesterday and in passing at parties before I left for military school I haven't seen, spoken to, or even thought about those girls since I was with them."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Rory asked, "That you could just screw around with them and move on as if they don't matter."

"They don't. It was just sex, Rory. We were kids. It was just something to do, companionship," Tristan told her.

"No, it has to mean something. You can't just fool around or sleep with someone without some kind of feelings involved," Rory said.

"Rory…" Tristan began.

"I want a list," she said.

"A what?" he asked.

"A list, of everyone you've been with so crap like this doesn't happen again," she said.

"You can't be serious," he said.

"Very. I want a list. I don't want anymore surprises," Rory told him.

"I don't want to do this," Tristan said.

"Why? Too many to remember?" Rory asked, "Because I can give you mine in under a second, you."

"I know that and I love that I'm the only one you've ever been with," Tristan said, "And with any luck if our future goes as planned, I'll be the only one, but Rory...you don't know what it is you're asking for. This isn't going to make you feel any better."

"I don't know what's going to make me feel better," Rory said, "All I know is I don't like the feeling I had when those girls started talking about their experiences with you. And when Walker said…"

"Forget about what Walker said, okay. I love you. I am with you," Tristan said, "Shouldn't that be all that matters?"

"It should, but it doesn't," Rory said, standing up and grabbing her bag, "Write the list. I'm staying with Riley."

"Rory…" Tristan called as Rory walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** Wow! Six reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you all liked my take on the infamous bridesmaids incident. I would never have Tristan cheat on Rory, or vice versa, but I will create some drama for their relationship. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 10: "The only name that matters to me is yours. I love you."

* * *

"So Steph just took Rory home in my car and she's apparently staying with us for the time being," Riley said, "which I guess leaves me to ride back with you and if you want that to be a pleasant ride you better start talking because I'm about five seconds away from punching you in the face."

"I screwed up," Tristan said.

"No shit. My sister wouldn't have left in tears if you didn't. Now what the hell is going on?" Riley asked.

"Honor's bridesmaids," Tristan said, "I kind of left out some information when I was talking about them yesterday."

"Please tell me you did not just admit to cheating on my baby sister," Riley said.

"No, never. I wouldn't, couldn't do that," Tristan said.

"But, you have been with those girls," Riley said.

"Yes, but it was a long time ago. Before I even met Rory," Tristan said.

"Okay, that doesn't explain Rory's tears, unless she found out," Riley said.

"She did. Apparently they started talking about hooking up with groomsmen or whoever they could and when one of them brought me up and they found out Rory was dating me they decided they wanted to compare notes," Tristan said.

"Idiots. Why do girls do that?" Riley asked.

"I have no idea. But yeah, they went on about their experiences with me, talking about the things I did to them and how good it was," Tristan said.

"Oh man. And they said all of this in front of Rory," Riley said.

"Yep and she got pissed that I didn't tell her myself," Tristan said, "It caught her off guard and now…"

"What? What now?" Riley asked.

"She asked me to make her a list," Tristan said.

"A list?" Riley asked.

"Yeah. She wants a list of every girl I've ever been with so she's not surprised again," Tristan said.

"Are you going to do it?" Riley asked.

"I don't want to. I don't think it will help anything for her know all the names and how many," Tristan said.

"I know we've never really talked about it other than for you to tell me there's been a lot, but how big a number are we talking about here?" Riley asked, "Ten? Twenty?"

"That I've actually had sex with, I'd say fifteen off the top of my head and more than I can even remember that I've fooled around with," Tristan said.

"Wow," Riley said.

"Yeah. I'm not proud of who I used to be and over the years I've tried to forget it," Tristan said, "I've blocked out most of them."

"Is that what happened with the bridesmaids? You blocked them out or did you not tell Rory on purpose?" Riley asked.

"A little of both, I guess. I've tried to block out all the girls I've been with before and forget they even existed. It's easy for the most part. Most were one night stands at parties, but a few I see from time to time at one place or another," Tristan said, "But I think mostly I didn't tell Rory because I knew it would upset her. She may know about my past, but knowing it and hearing about it are very different."

"That may be true, but I think what hurt her more was hearing from them. It made it seem like you were keeping it from her by not telling her up front," Riley said.

"Maybe. I guess we should probably head back. I've got a list to write and I hate to admit it, but I'm not sure I even remember all their names," Tristan said.

"You're not that guy anymore Tris," Riley told him.

"I know I'm not, but it's hard to be reminded of it, you know," Tristan said.

"Yeah. Okay, let's go. You work on that list and I'll talk to Rory," Riley said, "See if I can't help you out some."

"So you're on my side?" Tristan asked.

"Well, no. I'm not on either side, really. I just don't like to see my sister upset so I'll do whatever I have to help fix that," Riley said.

"Thanks, man," Tristan said.

"You're welcome," Riley said.

* * *

Walking into his apartment after getting back to New Haven from the wedding, Riley gave Stephanie a kiss before going to check on Rory in the guest room.

"Rough night?" Riley asked, opening the door, seeing her on the bed, a box of tissues next to her and a carton of ice cream in her hands.

"Like you don't already know," Rory snapped, "Sorry."

"It's fine," he said, taking a seat next to her, grabbing the ice cream from her hands and setting it on the nightstand next to her, "You want to talk about it or you want to cry some more?"

"You think I can do both?" Rory asked, laying her head on his shoulder as he threw his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"Absolutely, Baby Girl. I got you. Just let it all out," Riley said, brushing a few of her tears away before continuing their conversation, "So you know I talked to Tristan."

"You didn't hit him did you?" Rory asked.

"No, do I have a reason, too?" Riley asked.

"No. He didn't do anything wrong. Not technically, anyway, I guess and not intentionally either," Rory said.

"True. You're right. I don't think he intentionally meant to hurt you, Baby Girl," Riley said.

"Doesn't mean it didn't happen though," Rory said, "Though technically it wasn't Tristan who hurt me. It was those vipers masquerading as Honor's bridesmaids."

"Right and what a lovely group of girls they are," Riley said with a slight laugh.

"It's not funny, Ry," Rory said.

"You're right. I'm sorry," Riley said.

"I just don't know why he didn't tell me himself. It's not like it would have surprised me," Rory said, "I probably watched him make out with a dozen different girls at Chilton. The fact he screwed around with a bunch of Honor's friends doesn't surprise me."

"Gotta say it didn't surprise me either, but I get why he didn't tell you," Riley said, "He doesn't like to think about the guy he used to be. The guy he was before you."

"So because he's ashamed of his history I'm left to find out he was with a girl by her telling me he gave her the best orgasam of his life," Rory said, "That's really screwed up."

"Well, he probably didn't give it much thought. He didn't not tell you to be malicious. He just didn't expect you to ever find out," Riley said, "I don't think he imagined they would say anything."

"I know he didn't leave me to find out from them on purpose and either hearing from him or the way I did would suck no matter what," Rory said, "But, that doesn't change the fact I would have preferred to hear it from him."

"And that's why you asked him to make the list," Riley said.

"He told you about that?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, he did," Riley said.

"Do you think it's a bad idea? Wanting to know every girl he's been with?" Rory asked.

"I can't answer that one, Ror," Riley said, "Only you can. If you think you need to know who he's been with than okay, have him write the list."

"Would you do it if Steph asked?" Rory asked.

"She doesn't have to," Riley asked, "The only person I've been with other than her and Sarah is Louise and she's already met Sarah."

"Lucky, Steph. She has a boyfriend who hasn't slept with half the state of Connecticut," Rory said.

"Tristan hasn't slept with half the state, Baby Girl," Riley said.

"He may as well have," Rory said, "I'm sure the number is still pretty high, regardless."

"Possibly, but no matter how many other girls he was with before you guys got together, he loves you," Riley said.

"I know he does and I love him, too," Rory said, "This whole thing is just overwhelming."

"Yeah, I guess it was easier when you just knew he was the King of Chilton," Riley said, "Not when you were witness to the experience of some of the girls who got him the title."

"Yeah. I think I'm going to go to Stars Hollow in the morning," Rory said.

"You're not going to talk to Tristan?" Riley asked.

"Not yet. I need some time to think about everything and I can't do that with him two floors below me," Rory said.

"Can I tell him when he asks where you are?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I don't want to worry him," Rory told him.

"Okay, I let you get some sleep then," Riley said, moving to get off the bed, "Sleep tight, Baby Girl. I love you."

"I love you, too, Big Brother," Rory said as Riley kissed her forehead before grabbing the ice cream off the nightstand and leaving the room, "Night."

* * *

"So, what prompted this surprise visit?" Lorelai asked as she sat in the living room with Rory while she fed Sophie, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but it's rare that you don't call first and I'm even more surprised since you had Honor's wedding yesterday."

"Just fancied a visit home, that's all," Rory said.

"Rory?" Lorelai questioned, "I'm your mother. I know when something is bothering you so spill."

"Tristan and I had a fight," Rory said.

"A fight so bad you had to come here and hide out first thing in the morning?" Lorelai asked.

"I stayed at Riley's last night," Rory told her.

"Oh, so that bad," Lorelai said, "Is Tristan still in one piece at least?"

"He's fine, physically. He didn't do anything really that would require Riley to beat him up," Rory said.

"But he did do something," Lorelai said.

"Yeah," Rory said, "But I really don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm sure. I just want to spend the day with you and Soph and the rest of Stars Hollow and just forget about the drama that is my relationship for a little while."

"Okay, but if you change your mind," Lorelai said.

* * *

"Rory!" Lane called when she saw her walking to Luke's with Lorelai and Sophie.

"Hey!" Rory said, "You go ahead Mom. I'll be in, in a minute."

"Sure, sweets," Lorelai said.

"What's up?" Rory asked.

"I have really big news," Lane said, holding out her left hand for Rory to see.

"Oh my God! Is that? Are you?" Rory asked.

"I'm engaged!" Lane said.

"Oh my God, Lane," Rory said, capturing her friend in a hug, "How did this happen? When?"

"Just a couple days ago. It was so amazing. Zach talked to Mama about it and everything," Lane said.

"Really. He asked Mrs. Kim for permission," Rory said.

"Yes and then she wanted him to prove that he could support me with his music so he wrote song for me for his proposal," Lane said.

"Aww, he proposed to you in song, that's so sweet," Rory said.

"It's a beautiful song and Mama gave him my great-grandmother's to propose with," Lane said.

"Wow, I can't believe it. You're engaged," Rory said, her smile fading as she looked past Lane to see Tristan and Riley walking towards the square.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lane asked, noticing the change in Rory, turning around to see the two men approaching them, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'm really happy for you Lane, I don't want to bring you down," Rory said.

"No, it's fine. If something's bothering you, you can tell me," Lane said.

"Tristan and I are going through something right now," Rory said, "I should probably go talk to him."

"Okay, well, call me if you want to talk," Lane said.

"I will. Thanks, Lane," Rory said, hugging her again, "Congratulations!"

* * *

"Hi," Rory said, approaching Riley and Tristan.

"Hey," Tristan said.

"Ry, Mom's in the diner with Sophie if you want to go in," Rory said.

"You're good here?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, thanks, Ry," Rory told him.

"So," Tristan said.

"So," Rory said.

"I made a list," Tristan told her.

"You did?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, handing her a piece of paper.

"This is blank, Tris," Rory said, unfolding the paper he handed her.

"Not quite," he said.

"The only name on here is mine," she said.

"Exactly. I know you asked for a list of every girl I've been with," he said, "But, this. This is a list of every girl I've ever been in love with."

"Tris, that's sweet, but," Rory began.

"You want the other list," he said, taking another piece of paper out of his pocket, "I was hoping you'd change your mind."

"Thanks," she said, turning the folded page back and forth in her hands.

"Rory as cold as it sounds, those names, they're just words on a page. Names from the past of a guy I'm not proud of," Tristan told her, "The only name that matters to me is yours. I love you."

"I love you, too, Tris," Rory said, still holding on to the papers he gave her, "But, I…"

"I'll be at the bridge when you're ready," Tristan said, placing a hand on her cheek and kissing her forehead, "I love you, Mary."

* * *

An hour later after a cup of Luke's coffee and a pep talk from Riley, Rory went to the bridge to talk to Tristan. She found him sitting on the edge, his feet hanging over the side as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Hey," Rory said as she approached him, "You mind if I sit?"

"Please," Tristan said, turning to face her, "So…"

"So," Rory said, taking the two pages out of her pocket, "I didn't read it."

"What?" Tristan asked.

"I decided I didn't need it," she said, ripping the page into pieces, "I didn't need that list written by the boy you used to be. The only list that matters is the one written by the man I fell in love with."

"Really?" he asked.

"Really. I love you so much, Tris," Rory said, laying her head on his shoulder as he placed his arm around her.

"I love you, too, Mare. So much," Tristan said, kissing the top of her head.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I'm back and this time I actually have a reason for not posting as timely as I'd like. This past week I had a friend in from out of town and we attended Tree Hill Takes Chicago over the weekend where we got to meet cast members from One Tree Hill including Chad Michael Murray who of course played the lovely, Tristan DuGrey! It was a lot of fun. The cast is amazing! During a q & a Chad was asked where he thought Tristan would be today. I recorded his response and the video for it is pinned to my Twitter profile if you're interested.

* * *

Chapter 11: "I highly recommend the Hemingway shelf,"

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay with me going on this trip?" Luke asked as he placed his and April's bag in the back of his truck.

"I've told you a dozen times, yes, go. I think it's great she asked you go with," Lorelai said.

"But you're sure you'll be fine with Sophie on your own?" Luke asked.

"I have raised a kid before, you know. And besides, Lane's going to be over so I can work on her wedding dress so I'll have her to help if I need it," Lorelai said. "You've both come so far in such a short time. It's hard to believe we've only known April for just over a year."

"I know. It feels like she's always been here," Luke said, "For sixteen years I didn't even know she existed and now I can't imagine not having her in my life."

"Is everything packed, Dad?" April asked, coming out of the house with Sophie in her arms, handing her to Lorelai, "She woke up. I changed her, but she might be hungry."

"Thanks, honey," Lorelai said, "Okay, well you two better get going. You don't want to be late."

Giving Lorelai and Sophie both a kiss, Luke joined April in the truck so they could make the drive to Chilton to meet up with the rest of the students from her science club for their trip to Philadelphia for their competition. They were going to be staying in Philadelphia for a few days so Luke and April planned to visit Jess while they were there as well so they could check out the bookstore and Jess' new apartment.

* * *

"Jess is having an open house?" Tristan asked, picking the postcard up from the kitchen counter.

"Well, Truncheon is, but Jess invited us," Rory said.

"Do you want to go?" Tristan asked.

"Kind of. I love the bookstore and we haven't seen him or Olivia since Thanksgiving," Rory said.

"It's this weekend and neither of us have an early Monday class," Tristan said, "We could get a room somewhere and spend the whole weekend."

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Of course. Jess is one of your best friends. We should support him," Tristan said, laying his hands on her waist, kissing the top of her head, "Besides, in a couple months he'll be family. You should do nice things for your family if you're able to."

"God that's disturbing," Rory said.

"What is?" Tristan asked.

"The idea of Jess being related to me," Rory said, "We used to date. How screwed up is that."

"He's not related to you by blood Rory. It's not that weird," Tristan said.

"No, well think about this. I share the same genes as my mother and Jess shares genes with Luke," Rory said, "And they created Sophie. So essentially she is what the potential offspring of me and Jess could be."

"I guess it is a little twisted when you look at it that way," Tristan said, "But at least you don't have to worry about that. The only potential offspring you'll be having is mine."

"Oh, really. Do I have a say in this?" Rory asked.

"Absolutely," Tristan said, "We won't have kids until you're ready, but I'd like to someday in the far distant future."

"I'd like that, too," Rory said, giving him a brief kiss, "I also love that it doesn't weird you out to talk about this stuff."

"If I was the same guy I was five years ago it definitely would," Tristan said, "But if we want this relationship to be forever, we have to discuss these things. I may want to be with you forever, but I'd be an idiot to just assume you wanted it to without talking to you about it."

"Good point," Rory said, "So we're going to Philadelphia?"

"We're going to Philadelphia," Tristan said.

* * *

Friday afternoon Rory and Tristan set out for Philadelphia. Rory had told both sets of grandparents about their trip earlier in the week so they knew she wouldn't be there for Friday Night Dinner or Sunday Brunch. Arriving in Philadelphia they checked into their hotel before meeting with Luke and April for dinner. Since Rory and Tristan decided to go to Philadelphia, Luke and April were going to go back with them Sunday evening instead of leaving with the bus Saturday afternoon. They had the competition during the week and the group was planning to leave Saturday afternoon after giving all the kids a chance to sightsee. So they would be able to spend more time with Jess, Luke asked if they could stay behind.

"So this is Truncheon," Luke said as they stood outside the old building on Locust Street.

"You haven't been here?" Rory asked.

"No, this is my first time in Philadelphia, actually," Luke said.

"Mine, too," April said.

"I hadn't been here before until we came during spring break last year," Rory said, "The place is great. They have a great selection of books."

* * *

"Wow, well isn't this a surprise," Jess said, seeing Rory and Tristan when they walked in with Luke and April, "I expected Luke and April since they told me they were coming."

"I thought about calling, but where's the fun in that," Rory said, giving him a hug, "I've missed you Dodger."

"I've missed you, too, Ror," Jess said, "Olivia is around here somewhere. She'll be excited to see you."

"Great. I'm going to go find her. I'll talk to you later," Rory said, taking Tristan's hand and leading him away from their little group.

"The arm is still attached to the body, Rory," Tristan said as she pulled him along with her, "Olivia is not going anywhere."

"I know. I just miss her," Rory said.

"Rory!" Olivia yelled when she saw Rory and Tristan, giving Rory a big hug, "You're here!"

"I'm here," Rory said.

"I'm here, too," Tristan said.

"Hey, Tristan. It's good to see you, too," Olivia said, giving him a hug, too, "How long are you here for?"

"We came in yesterday and we're leaving Sunday night," Tristan said.

"Great, you have to come over for dinner then so you can see our apartment," Olivia said.

"Absolutely, we'd love to," Rory told her, "Now as much as I missed you…"

"You've missed all the books more," Olivia said.

"Yeah, sorry," Rory said.

"Don't be. Go, check things out," Olivia said, "I do have a few new pieces on display so be sure to check those out, too."

"Oh, I will. I'll talk to you later," Rory said, before taking off to explore the bookshelves.

"And then there were two," Tristan said.

"Come on. I'll show you my pieces and the others they have up for this weekend," Olivia told him.

* * *

After hours of looking at the books and talking with Jess about all her favorites she found, Tristan was able to drag Rory away from the bookstore so they could get lunch with Luke and April and spend some time in the city before the four of them went to Jess and Olivia's for dinner.

"Oh my," Rory said walking into the living room of Jess and Olivia's apartment. Two of the walls were lined with shelves. One wall full of books and the other full of albums, "I don't know what I want to borrow first."

"I highly recommend the Hemingway shelf," Jess said.

"Pass," Rory said, running her fingers over the various titles, reading each as she looked it over before pulling a few titles out to peruse more later.

"It's not quite the size of your collection," Jess said as she flipped through the pages of an old Dickens novel.

"But it's better. Yours have your notes in the margins," Rory said.

"True," he said.

"Are you two done drooling over the books so we can eat?" Olivia asked.

"We're coming," Rory said, setting the book she had been looking at on the coffee table with the rest of her pile, "I'll go through those more later."

* * *

When the weekend was over and they all returned to Connecticut, Rory met up with Lane to discuss her wedding. The plans for it were coming together. Lane and Zach didn't want to have a long engagement, but so as not to overshadow Luke and Lorelai, they were going to wait until the end of the summer to have the wedding.

"This dress is amazing Lane," Rory said when Lane tried it in in Rory's room at the Twickham House.

"It's gorgeous, right," Lane said, "Lorelai really out did herself with this one. I'm so glad Mama agreed to let Lorelai make me a dress."

"Was her wedding dress that bad?" Rory asked.

"It had pants," Lane said.

"Oh, say no more," Rory said, "Are you getting excited?"

"It's still a couple months away, but yeah. I never saw myself getting married so young or at all really with how protective Mama is," Lane said, "But, I'm really looking forward to it. I want to spend the rest of my life with Zach. I can't wait to be Mrs. Van Gerbig."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** So it's definitely weird writing now that we have new material to use, but I love this alternate universe I've created here. I love Rory and Riley and the universe I've put them in so I'm going to keep writing for this. I still have a lot I want to say with the characters I've created and this universe that I've built. So, how about a wedding that everyone gets to attend? Happy reading, guys!

* * *

Chapter 12: "Oh, it's on Mariano,"

* * *

"So, tomorrow," Rory said, settling down into the bed next to Lorelai.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Lorelai said, "It's really happening. I'm getting married."

"I'm so happy for you, Mom," Rory said.

"Thanks, kid. I'm happy for me, too," Lorelai said.

"Are you nervous?" Rory asked.

"No, I'm excited. I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for this," Lorelai told her.

"It has been a long time coming," Rory said, "You and Luke danced around each other for years before you finally saw what was right in front of you."

"You think he's nervous?" Lorelai asked.

"No, he's fine," Rory said.

"How do you know?" Lorelai asked.

"I talked to Riley before coming to bed. He and Jess made sure Luke had everything he needed for tomorrow before turning in themselves," Rory said, "Riley said it was weird for Luke, though, being back in that apartment."

"Yeah, it's been awhile since anyone stayed there, let alone, Luke," Lorelai said.

"But, if you want to do that whole traditional not seeing each other before the wedding thing, he had to stay somewhere and his old apartment just seemed right," Rory said.

"Very, true and having Jess and Riley stay with him there while you, April, and Sophie stay in the house with me is perfect, too," Lorelai told her.

"It's nice. Being here, just us girls and staying in here with you. It's like old times," Rory said, "When our whole world was just you and me."

"Yeah, but now our world is so much fuller and brighter," Lorelai said.

"That it is and I wouldn't want to have it any other way," Rory said, laying her head on Lorelai's shoulder as she closed her eyes, "Night, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, kid," Lorelai said, kissing Rory's cheek as she pulled the blanket up further to cover them.

* * *

"Alright. Big day. Are you nervous?" Jess asked his uncle the next morning as they were putting their tuxes on.

"You know I thought I would be, but I'm feeling pretty good. Excited actually," Luke told him.

"Excited? That's not an emotion I thought I'd ever see on you," Jess said.

"Me either. I'm really happy though, Jess," Luke said, "I'm finally getting what I've wanted for a long time."

"You deserve it Uncle Luke," Jess told him, giving him a hug, "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, Jess. And thanks for standing up with me," Luke said.

"Of course. You've always been there for me. I'm honored you asked," Jess said.

"Sorry to break up the moment, but we should get going," Riley said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Right. Let's go get you married," Jess said.

"Let's go," Luke said, throwing on his jacket and adjusting his tie once more.

* * *

"Wow!" Rory said, walking around to the back of the inn where the inn's staff were working to make sure everything was ready to go.

"Pretty incredible, isn't it?" Jess asked, coming up behind her.

"It's amazing. Luke really outdid himself," Rory said, walking towards the wood arch before them, covered with carvings of flowers and draped with lace, "I thought they were using the other chuppah, though?"

"Luke wanted to make a new one to surprise Lorelai," Jess told her.

"It's amazing. How did he hide this from her?" Rory asked.

"He worked on it at your old house and swore Babette to secrecy," Jess said.

"I guess it's a good thing they kept it then," Rory said, running her fingers over the delicate carvings, "How's your speech?"

"Speech?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, you know, your best man speech. The speech where you tell everyone how much Luke means to you and how you wish a life of love and happiness for the bride and groom," Rory said.

"Oh, that speech. I just figured I'd wing it," he told her.

"Jess! You can't just wing your best man speech," she said, "For those few minutes, all eyes will be on you. Waiting for Jess Mariano, a published author to deliver the most eloquent words he could find to share with all of us how much he cares about his uncle."

"You trying to psych me out, Gilmore-Hayden? Get me all flustered so I'll be nervous when the time comes and no one will notice that your speech sucks?" Jess asked.

"Please, I don't need to play mind games. My speech is perfect. Everyone is going to love it," Rory told him.

"Well, good because I've been working on mine since the two of them started dating so your speech better be amazing if you want to top mine," Jess said, smirking at her as he walked back towards the inn.

"Oh, it's on Mariano," she said following him back towards the inn to finish getting ready.

* * *

Going back into the inn, Rory went upstairs to find her mother as she was starting to get ready in the room she and Luke would be staying in that night. April was keeping an eye on Sophie as she was already dressed.

"Oh, Mom! That dress is even more beautiful on you than the first time I saw you try it on," Rory said.

"Or the last time when you put it on last night," April added.

"That is how you know it's truly meant to be," Emily said, walking into the room, "You can't help but try on your wedding dress every night."

"Hey, Grandma, you look great. I love this dress," Rory told her.

"Yes, well, Miss Celine does have the best tastes," Emily said, "I brought you a little something, Lorelai. You don't have to wear it, but I just thought I would offer."

"A tiara?" Lorelai questioned, taking the sparkling piece out of the box Emily handed her.

"It's the one I wore when I married your father," Emily said.

"Oh, Mom," Lorelai said, setting the box down to hug her, "I'd be honored to wear it. Will you put it on me?"

"It will be my pleasure, Lorelai," Emily said, fighting her tears as she took the tiara from the box and placing it on top Lorelai's head, "You're a beautiful bride, Lorelai Gilmore."

"Thanks, Mom," Lorelai said, "Okay, let's do this, huh. Let's have a wedding."

* * *

Walking out first with Jess on her arm, Rory took in everything around her. Their family, the town, so many people seated and standing before her that love her Mom and Luke. Like her they'd all been watching for years as the two dated other people, but always had the others back, just waiting for the day they would realize they were meant for each other. Emily's flowers were perfectly placed around the garden and a few irises had been attached to the new chuppah since Rory was out in the garden earlier.

Taking her place at the altar with Luke and Jess, Rory turned to watch her soon to be stepsister and her brother make their way down the aisle. Riley in his tux that matched Luke's and Jess' and April in the strapless yellow dress, adorned with a blue sash that was tied around the middle and matched Rory's. Both girls carried a bouquet of irises from Emily's garden that matched the colors of their dress.

Following behind Riley and April was Gigi, the small girl wearing a child-sized version of Rory and April's dress as she pulled along the painted white wagon adorned with irises that carried the flower girl and ring bearer, Sophie Danes and Jamie Forester.

After everyone was in their place at the altar, Jamie happily back in his mother's arms, Sherry volunteering to hold Sophie, the song turned as everyone looked towards the end of the aisle awaiting Lorelai's approach.

"You know, I don't think I've seen you look happier than right at this moment," Richard told his daughter as they stood together outside the inn, awaiting the change in the music, signaling their cue to walk down the aisle.

"Thank you. I am happy, Dad. So happy," Lorelai told him, taking a deep breath when she heard the first notes of the wedding march begin to play.

"I guess that's our cue," Richard said.

"Don't let me fall, Dad?" Lorelai asked.

"I've got you," he said, holding out his arm for her to take as they made their way out into the garden and down the aisle towards their family.

"Oh, my!" Lorelai exclaimed, getting her first look at the new chuppah when they reached the end of the aisle.

"Who gives this woman to this man?" Reverend Skinner asked.

"Her mother and I do," Richard told him, turning to Luke speaking to him before kissing Lorelai's cheek, "Take care of her Luke."

"Always, sir," Luke told him, shaking his hand before taking Lorelai's from him and turning so they faced each other in front of Reverend Skinner.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are gathered here on this day, the third of June of the year two thousand and six, to witness the joining of these two people in holy matrimony," Reverend Skinner said, "For many years, I've watched these two, we all have really. We've watched them look on and pine, hoping one day the other would notice what we've all seen for years. Luke and Lorelai were meant for one another."

As the Reverend continued to speak, Lorelai took a few quick glances at the area around her. She smiled as she saw all their friends and family seated before them, huge grins on their faces, they wanted this day as much as she and Luke did. She looked back at Luke as Reverend Skinner continued to speak, glancing to her left at the brand new chuppah. She couldn't believe that Luke had made a new one for them, let alone one so beautiful with so much detail. He really loved her and wanted her to have the perfect and most beautiful wedding of her dreams.

"At this time, Luke and Lorelai have some words they would like to say to one another," Reverend Skinner said, "Luke?"

"Lorelai, the day you walked into my diner changed my life. I quickly knew never to run out of coffee and that decaf was not an acceptable substitute, ever" Luke began, getting a laugh from the crowd, "But that day, I met my soulmate, an idea I never even believed in until I met you. All that sappy I'll love you forever, I want to die when you die, my life meant nothing until you used my toothbrush stuff I used to complain about and didn't believe in changed the day you walked into my life. That day we met, I knew I wanted all that someday and I wanted it with you. I love you."

"Luke," Lorelai began, sniffling as she wiped away her tears with her fingertips, "That day changed everything for me, too. I found the one for me, my perfect match, the greatest thing my eyes I had ever seen. That day I found the best cup of coffee in the world."

"But, I also found you. A man who no matter what, whether we got along or just had a fight, was there for me, hands down, without fail, whenever I needed him. You're my other half, my one true love. I'm going to love you forever, Luke Danes."

As she continued to blink away her tears and noticed Luke struggling to hold his in, the rest of the ceremony became a blur. Before she knew it, they were slipping rings onto each others fingers and uttering their 'I do's.'

"My the power vested in me by the State of Connecticut, I now pronounce you husband and wife," Reverend Skinner said, "Luke you may kiss your bride."

"We did it, we're married," Lorelai said before Luke placed his lips on hers.

"Yeah, we did it," he said, pulling back before kissing her again as their friends and family cheered.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** Happy New Year! My apologies, I did not forget about this story or my others. I had every intention of updating a lot sooner than this. December got away from me. Between the holidays, my birthday, and my real life job in retail, the month just flew by me without me having the time I'd like to have to write. So, I hope your holidays were good. Enjoy the update. Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 13: "So, Baby Girl, are you ready for a week of playing 'Mommy'?"

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman," Riley began, taking hold of Rory's hand as she stood to his left on the steps of the gazebo with April at her side holding Sophie. The four of them standing together to introduce their parents to the awaiting crowd, "It is our honor to introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Luke Danes."

The crowd of family and friends littering the square around the gazebo looked towards Miss Patty's as they awaited the grand entrance of the town queen and her newly crowned king.

"You hear that, Mr. Danes," Lorelai said as they walked hand in hand out the door of Miss Patty's the applause of the crowd waiting for them and beginning notes of a familiar song.

"They're playing our song," Luke said, stopping to give her a kiss as they listened to the first few notes of Sam Phillip's _Reflecting Light_. It was the song that was playing when he asked her to dance on their first date and it played again at his sister Liz's wedding two years prior. It was the perfect first dance song for them, "Dance with me, Mrs. Danes?"

"Absolutely," Lorelai said as he led her to the dance floor in the square.

As the song wound down, Luke and Lorelai shared a kiss before joining their children at their table. A large table was set up in the square in the middle of all the guests where Luke and Lorelai sat surrounded by their children. Rory and Riley were seated alongside them with Tristan and Stephanie at their sides. Also at the table were April and Jay. And Jess, who until Riley came along was the closest Luke had to a son, was seated there with Olivia.

* * *

"Ready, Dodger?" Rory asked, getting up from her seat to head towards the gazebo with Jess following behind her after they finished their meal and were preparing to deliver their speeches before the cake was cut and the rest of the dancing began.

"You know it," he told her, joining her on the steps of the gazebo.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Rory and I'm the maid of honor," Rory began, "Until recently for as long as I could remember my life was just me and my Mom. The two of us against the world, we didn't need men in our lives. As long as we had each other, we were good. But then, Luke happened. With one cup of coffee he became the man we never knew we needed."

"He celebrated with us on our birthdays and holidays; made us mashed potatoes and chicken soup when we were sick; and shoveled our driveway when it snowed. No matter what, without fail or obligation to me or my Mom, Luke was always part of our lives and now he has a permanent part. He's the best husband and stepfather two Gilmore Girls could ever ask for. To Mom and Luke!"

"So, I'm Jess. I'm Luke's nephew and the best man," Jess said, "I'm not the most loquacious person. In fact I believe when I first met Lorelai I probably spoke no more than two words to her and the few I spoke to her during our next encounter when she invited Uncle Luke and I over for dinner were less than polite."

"But, if you'll recall Lorelai, part of my smart ass comments included accusing you of sleeping with Luke. And even though it was truly meant as a smart ass comment, I could see from the moment I saw these two interact that we would one day be here at their wedding. Luke and Lorelai were always meant to be. Congratulations Luke and Lorelai!"

* * *

As the evening went on they danced to a mix of songs played by the DJ and a few from Hep Alien. Tristan and Riley had a laugh at the look on Jess' face when Olivia caught the bouquet and all three men shared a look of annoyance when Jay slipped the garter he caught on April's leg before giving her a kiss.

"Relax, guys. It's just a bit of fun," Rory told them, laying a hand on Tristan's chest to calm him down as she squeezed Riley's hand with her other, "They're not doing anything, alright. No need to get all worked up."

"And you know this, how?" Riley asked.

"Because she told me," Rory said, "She's talked to me about it; mom, too. And we gave her the same talk Mom gave me. She's supposed to come to us when she's ready and so far she says she's not."

"Okay, but I'm trusting you and Mom on this one," Riley said.

"Don't worry, Ry, we got this. Mom and I will make sure April doesn't take that step before she's ready and when she does we'll make sure she's being safe," Rory told him.

"Good," Riley said, placing an arm around Rory has he kissed the top of her head, "So, Baby Girl, are you ready for a week of playing 'Mommy'?"

"I can't wait to watch Sophie. It's going to be fun getting to spend so much time with her," Rory said, "I'm glad we all get to spend this week together while Mom and Luke have their honeymoon."

* * *

"Okay, there is tons of extra milk in the freezer so you should be good for the week, but she'll take the formula if you need it," Lorelai said, holding Sophie close to her, "Oh, I'm going to miss you sweet girl. Are you sure you're going to be okay with her?"

"It's only a week, Mom and I've watched Sophie before," Rory said, "Riley's here, plus April and Tristan. I can call Sookie if I need her. Plus, Dad and Sherry are going to be in Hartford for the week so Gigi can spend time with the Hayden's and Sherry's parents."

"I know, but this is the first time she won't have me or Luke here," Lorelai said.

"She'll be fine, Mom. Relax. You're only going to Martha's Vineyard. You can be back in no time if we need you," Rory told her.

"I guess. I'm going to miss her though," Lorelai said, giving her a hug and kissing her forehead before handing her to Rory, "You be good for your brother and sister, little girl."

"Have a good time, Mom," Rory said.

"We'll call you when we get there," Luke said, grabbing their suitcases and taking them out to his truck, "You kids have fun and behave yourselves."

"Bye, Dad," April said, giving him a hug as they all stood outside to see Luke and Lorelai off.

* * *

As the week went on they built up their routine. April still had a few days left of school and Tristan was helping out one of his professors with a project so Rory and Riley looked after Sophie during the day. In the evenings that worked together to prepare dinner for all of them while also keeping an eye on Sophie.

One day in the middle of the night, Rory woke to find herself alone in her bed. She rolled over to snuggle closer to Tristan and felt his side of the bed empty.

"Tris?" she called, expecting to him in the bathroom. Being met with silence she left her room to go in search of him. After stopping to check on Sophie and finding her room empty, Rory went downstairs to the living room, smiling at the sight before her as she stopped to sit at the bottom of the stairs, watching.

"It's late, Baby Girl. What are you doing up?" Riley asked a short while later, coming down the stairs and seeing Rory sitting at the bottom.

"Shh, quiet," Rory told him, pointing for him to look around the corner.

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to arise," Tristan sang, laying on the couch with Sophie against his chest, her eyes looking into his, "You ready to sleep yet, little one?"

"Did you know he could sing?" Riley whispered to Rory.

"No. I've never heard him before. I always just figured he didn't like to or something," Rory said, "He doesn't even sing along with the radio in the car."

"Blackbird fly. Blackbird fly," Tristan sang, repeating the song he found that seemed to soothe Sophie, "Into the light of the dark black night. Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly."

"He's going to be a great dad someday," Rory said, laying her head against Riley's shoulder as they continued to watch Tristan with Sophie.

"You think about that?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, we've talked about it a few times," Rory told him, "Haven't you?"

"Of course. Steph and I talked about a possible future together when we first talked about moving in together," Riley said, "Neither of us wanted to make that commitment if we weren't expecting it to go long term."

"Makes sense. Tristan and I first talked about being together long term after that dinner at his parents house, but to be honest I'd thought about it before," Rory said, "I think I've known he's the one for a long time."

"I knew he was the one for you the day we met," Riley said.

"What makes you say that?" Rory asked.

"A person doesn't talk so passionately about a single kiss three years after the fact unless the feelings behind it were pretty strong," Riley said.

"True," Rory said, yawning and moving down to lay her head in Riley's lap.

"You fall asleep here, I'm not carrying you back upstairs," Riley said.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Rory said, closing her eyes.

* * *

"Okay, so did anyone sleep in their own bed last night?" April asked walking in the door after coming home the next morning from staying over at a friends, surprised to see Tristan asleep on the couch with Sophie and Rory and Riley beginning to wake from their spot on the stairs where they fell asleep.

"Ry. Ry wake up," Rory said, sitting up from her place on his lap.

"What?" he asked, opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings.

"I guess you really didn't want to carry me upstairs," Rory said, "Instead you fell asleep here with me."

"Why were you guys sleeping on the stairs?" April asked.

"That's a good question, April," Tristan said, having been woken up when he heard them talking, "You two weren't by chance spying on me and Sophie?"

"Spying, no. Watching from out of sight so you weren't aware, absolutely," Rory told him, getting up and taking Sophie from him to get her fed and changed.

"Same thing Mary," he told her, following her up the stairs to Sophie's room, "So, how long were you and Riley hiding out at the bottom of the stairs?"

"Not long. I woke up around two and your side of the bed was empty. I went looking for you and found you and Sophie together on the couch," Rory said, "I never knew you could sing."

"It's no big deal. It's not something I advertise, but I don't hide it either," he said.

"But, in the car. You never even sing along with the radio," she said.

"With you, no. I prefer to listen to you sing," he said, "I'll sing along when I'm on my own from time to time if I really like the song or the mood strikes me."

"You have an amazing voice. You should sing more," Rory told him.

"Maybe I will, for you," he said.

"I'd like that," she said, kissing him then leaning her forehead against his, "You're going to be a great Dad, you know."

"And you're going to be an amazing Mom," he said, giving her a kiss, stopping when Sophie let out a squeal, "I guess that's our cue to stop and get this one fed."

"I guess so," Rory said, pulling away from him and picking Sophie up to take her downstairs, "Each really is going to be amazing isn't it?"

"What?" Tristan asked.

"Spending forever together," Rory said.

"Oh, it definitely will," he told her, kissing her once more before giving Sophie a kiss, too, "Let's get Sophie fed so we can continue this conversation."

"Sounds good to me."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: "Who is calling you at one in the morning?"

* * *

After Luke and Lorelai came back from their honeymoon, Stars Hollow began preparing for another wedding; the wedding of Lane Kim and Zach Van Gerbig.

The day of the wedding as she stood at the front of the church next to her best friend, listening to their vows to each other, Rory began to think about her own wedding day. She wondered what it would be like and when she thought it might be. Her and Tristan had talked about the idea of marriage and a future together on several occasions, but never anything so concrete as to when any big events may occur in their lives.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tristan asked as he and Rory danced together in the square. The wedding had been over for a hours, the reception now in full swing.

"Just a penny?" Rory asked, running her fingers through his hair, playing with the ends at the back of his head.

"Oh your mind is definitely worth way more than that, but it's what I have on me at the moment," he told her, removing his hand from her waist to take a penny from his pocket, "I found it outside the church before I walked in. Could be lucky."

"Maybe," Rory said.

"Now, back to my earlier question," he said, "What's on your mind, Mary?"

"I've just been thinking about what my wedding will be like," she told him.

"Oh, any ideas?" he asked.

"Some. I want an outdoor wedding, I think. Somewhere beautiful with flowers and trees," Rory told him, "But I was also imagining when it would."

"You thinking when as in sometime soon?" Tristan asked.

"No. I'm twenty-one. I'm not ready to get married," Rory said, "It works for Lane. I know she's happy and getting married now was something she really wanted, but I'd like to wait at least until after I graduate, maybe even a year or two longer depending on what kind of job I get."

"That's a sound idea," he told her, "Would you be opposed to being engaged before graduation, though?"

"Is that a proposal?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"No, just thinking. I'm sure that when the day comes, I'll love your answer," he said, "But I'm just trying to gauge when the best time to ask would be."

"Tris you could ask me tomorrow over breakfast with both of us still in our pajamas and I would say yes," Rory told him.

"Good to know, but I'm sure I can come up with something a bit more romantic than that," he said.

"I'm holding you to that," she said, laying her head against his chest while he pulled her closer to him, kissing the top of her head as they continued to dance, letting their thoughts of their future flood their minds.

* * *

"Rory, Tristan, let's go. Senior year awaits," Riley said as he and Stephanie walked into Rory and Tristan's apartment the morning of their first day of classes.

"Relax, Ry. We have an hour before our first class starts," Rory told him as walked into the kitchen where Riley was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"But it's not just any first class, Baby Girl," Riley said, handing her a cup, "We need to get good seats."

"Do you really want to sit in the front row of an economics class being taught by our grandfather?" Rory asked him, "We'll look like such brown-nosers."

"Of course not. But I don't want to sit in the back either. We sit in the front, it's like we're trying to be teacher's pets; sit in the back it will look like we're trying to distance ourselves from the fact we're related to him," Riley said, "I'm thinking somewhere in the middle, maybe the second or third row will be just right."

"That sounds good," Rory said, "We'll have to stay close to the classroom so we can go in once other people start to. I don't want to be first in."

"You guys are ridiculous," Stephanie said.

"Yeah, seriously, I mean, no one is going to care that you're related to Richard," Tristan said, "So just go to class, take a seat where you want to and enjoy the incredible learning experience I'm sure he's going to give you."

"You think so?" Rory asked.

"Absolutely. He's a brilliant man," Tristan said, "I just wish I hadn't taken that class last semester. I would have loved to have Richard Gilmore as a professor."

"Me too," Stephanie said, "The professor we had was great and I really enjoyed the class, but I agree, Richard is sure to be an amazing professor."

* * *

"Good morning. Welcome to Microeconomic Theory," Richard said, standing before his first class, pausing a moment to smile at his grandchildren who had decided to sit in the front row after all, "Now, everyone has their syllabus, but not to worry I'm not going to bore you by reading it over, I'll leave that to you. I will make one note. Should any of you require it I am available beyond the afternoon office hours the university requires of me. Now then, microeconomics…"

At the end of seventy-five minute class, Rory and Riley ventured out to their favorite cart, now being manned by Joe as Nick graduated the year before.

"Alright Joe, time for the biggest test of your life," Rory told him, "We will take two R-squared specials, please."

"R-squared specials, right. Of all the drinks I was taught to make, Nick made sure before he left last semester that I had that one mastered," Joe said, taking two cups and beginning by pumping the caramel and chocolate into them.

"Perfection," Rory said, taking a drink when Joe handed it to her, "You've made this just right. It's really...wait...there's something different about this."

"Nothing's wrong with it, Baby Girl, it's delicious," Riley said, taking a drink of his coffee.

"I didn't say anything was wrong with it, I said something was different," Rory said, "What did you change?"

"I added a bit of nutmeg to it. If you don't like it I can…" Joe said.

"No, it's really good. The nutmeg is just faintly there, but you can taste it enough to wonder what it is," Rory said, "I love it. Keep up the good work, Joe. We'll see you at least three more times today."

"Really? Wow, Nick wasn't getting when he said you were his best customers," Joe said, "Are you sure you want to graduate this year?"

"Yes, but don't worry man, we'll be here everyday until then," Riley said.

"Several times a day," Rory added.

* * *

"Who is calling you at one in the morning?" Rory asked as Tristan climbed back into bed, laying his phone back on his nightstand.

"It was Logan," he told her, throwing an arm around her as she curled her body against him, laying her head on his chest.

"He's up at six o'clock in the morning?" Rory asked, "I didn't think he knew there was a six o'clock in the morning."

"Me either," Tristan said, kissing the top of her head, "But he seems to really like what he's doing. He didn't like it at first, Uncle Mitchum forcing him to go London to work, but it's been good for him."

"You think so?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was time for him to grow up," he said, "I don't agree with him being told he had to go, but I know he enjoys the work he does for his dad."

"And he is really good at it," Rory said.

"That he is," Tristan said, "He was sulking the first weeks, but he's got his routine down and now he's actually looking forward to the year he is spending over there."

"Good for him," Rory said, "He's getting some good work and life experience. Maybe there is a nice British girl who catch his eye and she'll convince him to give up his playboy ways."

"That's doubtful, but maybe," he said, tilting her head up with his hand to kiss her lips, "All it really takes his one look from the right girl, so maybe."

"I love you," she said, kissing him deeply.

"I love you, too," he said.

* * *

"So, senior year, can you believe it?" Jay asked as he took April's hand, closing the door when she got out of her car. Knowing that whenever she decided to go to college, having a car would be beneficial for her, Luke, Lorelai, and Anna discussed it and bought her one for her eighteenth birthday over the summer.

"I know, it seems like yesterday I was just starting here," April said, "And then my Mom decided to move I thought I'd never be back here."

"I'm really glad she let you choose," Jay told her, stopping to give her a quick kiss, "And even more glad you decided to stay here."

"Me too. I love you Jacob Parker," she told him, returning his kiss.

"And I love you, too, April Nardini," he said, pulling away from her to continue their walk into the school for their last first day of high school.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN:** Okay, so major whoops on my part. I just finished writing chapter 16 and was about to post it when I saw I never posted this chapter. I've had it written for awhile and I thought I posted it so here are two new chapters for you. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15: "It's daunting, I know, but you can get through this,"

* * *

"So many questions and they're basically the same for every single one of these applications," April said as she sat with Rory in her apartment on a Saturday afternoon. Her college applications had come in during the week and Rory offered to help her so April came by.

"It's daunting, I know, but you can get through this," Rory told her, "As long as you know what you want to say and you're clear and honest in your essay and interviews, you'll be fine. It's really not that bad."

"Easy for you to say, you got accepted into three Ivy League schools," April said. "And she freaked out like you wouldn't believe," Riley said, walking into the apartment and joining them in the kitchen.

"How would you know, Ry?" Rory asked, "And do you ever knock?"

"One, Mom told me. She said you practically had a meltdown while working on your Harvard application," Riley said, "And two, you gave me a key. Why should I bother knocking when I can just let myself in."

"Because for all you know Tristan and I could having sex in the living room," she said.

"First of all, eww. Second, please tell me you haven't done that," Riley said, "I sit on that couch. I eat at this table. Please tell me you haven't done anything in here?"

"Eww, yes please tell me you've kept your sexcapades to the bedroom," April said.

"Well…" Rory said

"Oh God no. I think I'm going to be sick," Riley said.

"Relax, Ry. I was kidding," Rory told him, "We keep everything to the bedroom and the bathroom."

"Good, keep it that way until you get a house I don't have a key to," Riley told her.

"Deal," Rory told him, "Now, back to your applications."

"Where are you applying anyway, April?" Riley asked.

"Well, Yale for starters," she said.

"Of course," Riley said.

"Then also Princeton and Harvard," April said, "Plus MIT, NYU, and Columbia."

"That's a lot of schools," Riley said.

"I like options," April said.

"So, nothing on the west coast or near your Mom?" Rory asked, "You're sticking strictly with this area?"

"Yeah. I've always lived here and other than my Mom, everyone I know and love is here," April said, "I've already talked to Mom about it and since basically all the best schools and places for me are here, she's cool with it."

"You're still planning on majoring in biochemistry, right?" Rory asked.

"Yes. I really want to be either a biomedical or forensic scientist someday," April said.

"So disease research or criminal investigation," Riley said.

"Yeah, it all fascinates me, but those two the most," April said, "I feel I'd do the most good for other people if I used my love for science to either help find a cure for something or to help solve crimes."

"I like that. You'll do good with whatever you choose," Rory said.

"Thanks, I hope so," April said.

"Do you know where Jay is applying?" Riley asked.

"A few of the same places. He's not doing as many applications as I am," April told him.

"Does he know what he wants to do?" Rory asked.

"He's planning to study music theory and composition," April said, "The past couple years he's been playing more and he's realized he really loves it. He's even taken up learning to play the violin and the French horn. He wants to learn how to play the clarinet as well."

"Wow, that's really cool," Rory said.

"Yeah, so does he want to play professionally or compose?" Riley asked.

"Both, actually. He's composed a few other pieces since the one he did for me last year," April said, "He's become more comfortable playing in front of other people, too. He's been playing at these open mic nights at a coffee shop in Hartford to get some experience performing and get feedback on his music."

"He's enjoying it?" Rory asked.

"He loves it and he's really good. He's mostly just playing, but he's written lyrics to a few pieces as well," April said, "And he has an amazing voice."

"Will he mind if we go down and hear him sometime?" Rory asked.

"Not at all," April said, "I'll let you guys know when he's playing next."

"Great, now let's get these applications going and get you prepared to knock your interviews out of the park," Riley said.

* * *

After several hours, a couple of pizzas, a few cups of coffee, and a bit of help from Tristan and Stephanie along with Rory and Riley, April had her applications all filled out as well as rough drafts for her essays. The four of them also gave April examples of questions they were asked during their college interviews to help her prepare for the interviews she would have in the coming weeks.

"So, April's pretty well prepared for life after graduation," Riley said as they moved into the living room.

"I guess it's our turn now," Rory said.

"Graduation is months away, though," Stephanie said.

"True, but do you know what you want to do come June?" Tristan asked.

"I guess not," Stephanie said, thinking about it for a moment, "I've been studying art history and taking a bunch of photography classes because I love it, but what can I do with a major in art history? And photography? I don't really want a job taking kids school pictures."

"You could work in a museum somewhere," Rory said.

"Yeah, I think you knew more than everyone who worked there when we went to the Art Institute in Chicago," Tristan said, "You could easily get any job you want there or anywhere."

"And you don't have to take kids school pictures if photography is something you really love," Riley told her, pulling her from her seat and onto his lap, "You can take pictures just to take pictures. You can work for a paper or freelance and get your pictures published."

"Or you can dream big and maybe your photographs will be in a museum someday," Rory said.

"I guess I have more options than I thought. That's pretty exciting, actually," Stephanie said, "What about you guys?"

"I've already been offered a spot at a firm in the city," Tristan said, "But, I haven't decided yet if I want to take it or use the trust fund my Grandfather has for me and start my own."

"Starting your own isn't a bad idea," Riley said, "You could work anywhere if you start your own firm."

"Yeah, it gives me options if Rory ends up with a job across the country," Tristan said.

"That's sweet, Tris," Rory said, giving him a kiss, "Though hopefully we can stay in the city. Ry and I are applying for the Reston and I really want it."

"It's going to be tough with only four spots available and we're applying for two of them," Riley said.

"You guys will get them, I'm sure," Tristan said, "You're great writers and you've done an amazing job editing the Daily News. Why wouldn't they give you both the internship?"

"I hope you're right," Rory said, laying her head on his shoulder, "I really want that internship."

"You'll get it Mare," Tristan said, kissing her cheek.

"He's right, Baby Girl," Riley said, "You'll get the internship because you deserve it."

"You do too, Ry," Rory told him, "But, what if…"

"What?" Riley asked.

"There's only the four spots. How likely are they to give two of them to people in the same family?" Rory asked, "What if they only give one of us an internship, Ry?"

"Then the other will get a job somewhere else, no big deal," he told her.

"And what, we're separated again?" Rory asked, "What if you get the Reston and I get offered a job in Chicago or San Francisco? We spent eighteen years not knowing the other existed living a hundred miles apart. I don't want three thousand miles between us. Do you?"

"Ror, I, uh," Riley said, looking to Tristan and Stephanie, "Can you guys give us a few minutes?"

"Sure," Tristan said.

"We'll just run out and grab dinner," Stephanie said, following him towards the door.

"Come here, Baby Girl," Riley said, holding his hand out to her once Tristan and Stephanie left, having her sit next to him on the couch, placing an arm around her as she laid her head on his shoulder, "No matter what, no matter how many miles there may be between us someday, we're going to be okay."

"How do you know?" Rory asked.

"Because you're my baby sister and I love you," Riley told her, kissing the top of her head, "Nothing is going to tear apart the bond we have."

"You're sure?" she asked.

"Positive," he said, pointing to her "It's a Twin Thing" necklace.

"I love you, Big Brother," Rory said, burying her head in his chest as she gave him a hug.

"I love you, too, Baby Girl," he said.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: "It's not my fault you didn't give me enough."

* * *

"Three please, Joe?" Rory asked when it was her turn at the coffee cart.

"Three?" he questioned as he began to prepare the drinks, "I didn't think anyone besides you and Riley drank this stuff."

"Normally, no, though a friend who graduated already drank it on occasion," Rory said, "But the third is for our step-sister. Our grandfather set up an interview with the Dean of Admissions for her today so she stayed over last night."

"Well, wish her luck for me. I've got another two years here, I could use the income if she drinks this stuff like you and Riley," Joe said, handing her a tray with the three coffees.

"She's not quite the excessive drinker we are, but she does enjoy a cup every now and then," Rory told him, "Thanks, Joe."

"I come baring coffee," Rory said, setting the tray down next to Riley and April where they sat at a table in the dining hall.

"And we've got your breakfast," Riley told her, taking his cup from the tray as Rory sat down next to April.

"Thank you," Rory said, taking a bite of the waffle they got for her.

"Are you excited for your meeting with the Dean?" Riley asked.

"Sort of, but I'm nervous, too," April said, "Richard set this up for me, I don't want to disappoint him. What if I say something stupid or forget what I'm majoring in or something."

"You'll be fine. I was nervous and said some pretty out there things when I met him," Rory said.

"You did?" April asked.

"Yeah, didn't you say you told him your role model was Gloria Estefan?" Riley asked.

"Yep, but everything turned out okay. I got into Yale. He and Grandpa are still friends. It will be okay," Rory said, "Just relax."

"I'll try," April said, taking another bite from her cereal.

"What combo did you go with today?" Rory asked.

On one of the days April had stayed in Rory's dorm during her visit to the campus two years prior, Rory and Paris had introduced her to the art of cereal mixing.

"I've got Cocoa Puffs, Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Vanilla Life Cereal, and the classic Cheerio," April said.

"Sounds good," Rory said.

"It is. The peanut butter, chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla mix together really well," April said.

"I'll have to try that mix sometimes," Rory said as she finished off her plate of waffles, taking a piece of bacon from Riley's plate, having already finished hers.

"Hey!" he said.

"What, I'm hungry," Rory told him, tearing the piece in half and eating part of it, "It's not my fault you didn't give me enough."

"You had four pieces, same as me," Riley said.

"Exactly. Four is not enough when the bacon is this delicious," Rory said, "Tristan always let's me eat some of his bacon after I finish mine."

"That's because he's your boyfriend and wants to make you happy so you'll continue to make him happy," Riley said, "I'm your brother. Keeping you happy is necessarily my job. I could care less about your happiness if it means you're going to steal my bacon."

"Mean," Rory said as she set the half of his piece of bacon back on his plate.

"Thank you," Riley said, eating the half piece as well as his other remaining piece of bacon.

"You know I'm really glad I found out Luke was Dad," April said, smiling at the two of them, "Having siblings is fun. I'm not nervous anymore. Thank you."

"Glad we could help," Rory grumbled.

"Oh, don't be upset, Baby Girl," Riley told her, "You know you would never let me take your bacon either."

"True," Rory said, "Okay, we need to get going to class and April needs to get to her interview."

* * *

"Miss Nardini, please have a seat," April was instructed as she entered the Dean's office.

"Thank you, Mr. Laken," April said, taking a seat on the chair he offered across from his desk.

"I see from your transcript that you're an excellent student. You're in line to be class valedictorian even though you didn't start at Chilton until your sophomore year," Dean Laken said.

"Yes sir," April said.

"I believe for Richard's granddaughter Rory it was the same way," he said.

"Yes. Rory started at Chilton her sophomore year as well. She was valedictorian of her class and is now a senior here," April said.

"And you'd like to follow in her footsteps?" he asked, "Is that why you've applied here?"

"Yes and no," April said, "My mother never went to college so I never had anywhere that I was expected to go to. I wasn't a legacy anywhere. Now, in a way, I have that. I've always been interested in attending an Ivy League school and I've really enjoyed the time I've spent getting to know the Yale campus."

"Yes, I saw that you came here in your sophomore year," Dean Laken said.

"I did. That's when I met Rory. I stayed a few days in her dorm, attended her classes, and she showed me around the campus," April said, "I enjoyed it immensely and I've loved spending time with Rory, Riley, and their friends on campus whenever I've been able to come. I like it here."

"Enough to come here next fall?" Dean Laken asked.

"I haven't decided that yet, sir," April said, "I've applied a few other places, many of which offer some intriguing opportunities."

"You wish to major in biochemistry," Dean Laken said.

"Yes, sir," April told him, "I've always been fascinated with science in all forms, but biochemistry has interested me the most. I'm particularly interested in genetics and DNA."

"And what about genetics and DNA fascinates you Miss Nardini?" he asked.

"Until two years ago, I had never met my father. I didn't anything about him. I didn't even have his name," April said, "When I learned who he was and we had a DNA test done to prove it I got to thinking more about what we can do with genetic research and what DNA can help us with."

"Such as?" Dean Laken asked.

"Forensics, for example. The DNA test for me and Dad were done by my uncle. He works in a lab in Hartford that also works for the police department," April said, "I've spent time there observing. I would go there almost every weekend when I was little," April said, "I've seen his lab use what they do to help solve crimes the police thought unsolvable. I've seen them exonerate men who spent time in jail for twenty years for crimes they didn't commit because the DNA evidence either wasn't processed or mishandled. I'd like to use my interest in science for something good and I feel biochemistry with an eye towards genetic research or forensic science would do the most good while also allowing me to enjoy my job."

"You've definitely given the plan for your future a lot of thought," Dean Laken said, "And I certainly hope that when the time comes to review what I'm sure will be many acceptances, that you'll give our school dutiful consideration before making your final choice."

"I will, sir," April told him, "And I thank you for meeting with me."

"It was a pleasure, Miss Nardini," he said, rising from his seat to shake her hand, "I'll show you out."

"Thank you," April said as he held the door to his office open for her, allowing her to step out in front of him.

"Have a wonderful rest of your day, Miss Nardini," he said.

* * *

"What in the...Tristan? What's going on here?" Rory asked, one evening a few days after April's interview as she walked into their apartment. The lights were turned down and a table had been set up in the middle of their living room with a tablecloth, dishes, and candles she knew hadn't been in their apartment before, "Tris?"

"Kitchen," he called as she walked towards the sounds she heard before he answered, setting her bag on the table when she enter the kitchen.

"What is all this?" she asked, watching him stand before their stove, carefully watching what looked to be a sauce of some sort.

"Dinner," Tristan said, stepping away from the stove and pouring her a glass of wine, "Happy Anniversary, Rory."

"Happy Anniversary, Tristan," she said, clinking her glass with his before he kissed her, "Tris, this, wow. You know we could have just gone to Cafe Romeo again."

"I know, but I wanted to do something different this time," he told her, "Something a little more romantic."

"Well, you definitely achieved that," Rory told him, taking in the sight before her. In addition to the sauce on the stove, she could smell the steak cooking in the oven as well as the baked potatoes. A salad had already been set out on the table in the living room, "It all smells amazing, Tristan."

"Thank you," he said, leaning down to kiss her once more, "Dinner will be ready in just few minutes."

"Wonderful. I'm going to take my bag to our room and change out of this," Rory said, pointing to her worn out jeans and Yale sweatshirt she had worn due to the slight chill in the air now that it was the beginning of October.

"You don't have to do that. You know you look great in anything," Tristan said.

"Thank you for that, but I'm changing anyway," she told him, leaning up to kiss his cheek as she set her wine glass down on the counter, "I'll just be a minute."

* * *

"Wow!" Tristan said as Rory came from the bedroom, walking into the living room where he was finishing plating their food.

"Glad I changed?" Rory asked, giving him a spin so he good take in the back of her dress as well. She had changed into a knee length, sleeveless, backless dress

"Very glad," he said, stepping towards her, running his hands down her bare arms before wrapping his arms around her to pull her into him for a kiss, letting his fingers graze her bare back as he moved his lips from her mouth to her neck, "I think this is my new favorite dress. You should wear this all the time."

"I'll definitely have to consider it if it gets me this kind of attention," she told him as he continued his assault on her neck before spinning her around to kiss her exposed back, "Mmm, Tris, the foods going to get cold if you keep doing that."

"Do you really want me to stop?" he asked, pausing a moment as he moved to his knees to kiss her exposed back just above her waist, creating a path upwards as he kissed along her spine.

"Almost every part of me want to beg you to take me on our couch right," Rory said, moving her head to the side to allow him better access to her neck.

"Almost every part?" he questioned as her stomach gave a rumble, "I guess that's the part of you that's against it."

"Yeah. I kind of skipped lunch today," she told him, "I was working on some stuff for the paper at lost track of time."

"Alright, well, then let's get you fed and then we'll work on getting you out of that dress," Tristan told her, taking her hand and leading her to the table where he pulled out her chair for her to sit.

* * *

Hours later while their dishes lay in a pile in the sink and their clothes lay strewn in various spots of the living room, Rory and Tristan were wrapped in each others arms in their bed, her head on his shoulder with a hand on his chest as he ran his fingers up and down her spine.

"You know I actually planned a different dessert," Tristan said, eyeing the can of whipped cream and the empty bowl that held the strawberries they brought with them when they came into the bedroom.

"This was so much better," Rory said, kissing his chest, "Happy Anniversary, Tristan."

"Happy Anniversary, Rory," Tristan said, kissing her as she closed her eyes.

"I love you," she mumbled, sleepily.

"I love you, too, Mary," he said, kissing the top of her head as he pulled their blanket further over the top of them.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: "She worked hard to make every birthday special."

* * *

"Ry? Have you noticed anything weird about Tristan lately?" Rory asked as she and Riley walked through campus towards the newspaper office.

"Weird? No, I don't think so," Riley said, "What's going on?"

"I wish I knew. He's been making all sorts of secretive phone calls," Rory said, "He'll be on the phone and hang up quickly when I walk into the room. I woke up in the middle of the night the other day and he was in the kitchen whispering to someone on the phone."

"The middle of the night?" Riley asked.

"Yeah and when came up behind him he froze, whispered a goodbye and hung up the phone," Rory told him.

"Wait, was this Tuesday?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, why?" Rory asked.

"Steph was up late talking to someone that night, too," Riley said.

"You think they were talking to each other?" Rory asked.

"It's possible," Riley said, opening the office door to let her in ahead of him.

"But, why? What could they be talking to each other about that they have to keep it from us and do it at three in the morning?" Rory asked.

"If I didn't know any better I'd assume they were cheating on us," Riley said.

"But you do know better. So do I," Rory said, taking a seat at her desk as Riley sat at his desk next to her.

"I know. I just wasn't thinking too much of it, but now that you tell me Tristan has been acting as weird as Steph, I wonder," Riley said.

"They're not cheating on us, Ry. Not with each other or anyone else," Rory said, "They're definitely up to something though. I just have no idea what it is."

* * *

"Tell me about your best birthday," Tristan asked as he and Rory sat together in their bathtub the evening after Rory and Riley discussed Tristan and Stephanie's odd behavior.

"My best birthday?" Rory questioned, "I don't know. They've all been pretty good, why?"

"Just wondering. You're turning twenty-two in a couple of days. I've been around for four prior birthdays and they've been good, but I'm curious what you would put up there as the best one," Tristan said, wrapping his arms tighter around her as he kissed her neck.

"Mmm, that feels good," Rory said, moving her head to the side to give him better access to her neck, "My best birthday. You know, nothing really can compare to being able to spend these last few birthdays with Riley."

"No, I can't imagine much can top that," Tristan said as he nibbled on her earlobe.

"But, I had quite a few birthdays as a kid that I really enjoyed," Rory told him.

"Like?" he questioned, removing his lips from her neck and beginning to massage her shoulders.

"Like, when I was fourteen and we did this big scavenger hunt through town. That was a lot of fun," Rory said, "But, my favorite I think was probably my eighth birthday."

"What happened that birthday?" Tristan asked.

"We had a teddy bear tea party," Rory told him

"Teddy bear tea party?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, we were still living at the inn and Mia let Mom use the dining room and the inn's fancy china," Rory said, "I came home from school the afternoon of my birthday and the dining room was all decorated. There were lacy tablecloths and flowers on every table. Sookie had made like a dozen varieties of treats and finger sandwiches. And nearly everyone in town was there happily seated next to a teddy bear they had brought with them. It was probably the most effort my Mom had ever put into a birthday for me."

"That's probably what made it so good for you, knowing how hard Lorelai worked to make it special for you," Tristan said.

"She worked hard every birthday," Rory told him, "She worked hard to make every birthday special."

* * *

"I overheard Tristan on the phone to Mom, yesterday," Rory told Riley the next morning as they walked to class, "I didn't catch what they were talking about, but I heard him say her name."

"Weird. Dad called the apartment number this morning asking for Steph," Riley told her.

"Strange," Rory said.

"Hey, did Tristan ask you about our birthday this weekend?" Riley asked.

"He mentioned it, but we didn't talk about any plans or anything, why?" Rory asked.

"Steph hasn't either, but she asked me about my birthdays as a kid," he told her.

"Tristan did, too," Rory said, "Do you think they're planning something for our birthday?"

"Seems a possibility, but what?" Riley asked, "Other than the party Grandma through for our twentieth we've never done anything big to celebrate."

"We took that trip to Atlantic City," Rory reminded him.

"Yeah, but that was with our parents," Riley said, "We've never done anything big with our friends. Our nineteenth we watching movies with Tristan. Twenty we had that party at the Gilmore's, and twenty-one we went to dinner with Tristan and Steph."

"I don't know. Whatever they're planning they seem to want to keep it a surprise, which I guess is sweet," Rory said, "Although…"

"I know. I'm not real big on surprises myself," Riley said.

"I'm sure it will be fun though, whatever it is," Rory said.

"Guess we'll have to wait until Sunday to find out," Riley said.

* * *

Early Sunday morning, Riley used his spare key to Rory and Tristan's apartment to let himself in so he could wake up his sister for their birthday phone call from Lorelai. After cautiously opening their bedroom door, thankful to find both his sister and his friend clothed, Riley walked to Rory's side of the bed to wake her up as gently as possible.

"Happy birthday, Baby Girl," Riley whispered into her ear as he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Too early," Rory grumbled, turning her body away from her brother, burying her head into Tristan's chest.

"No, no, you need to get up, Rory. Mom's going to be calling in five minutes," Riley reminded her.

"Ugh, fine. I'm up," Rory said, kissing Tristan's chest as she uncovered herself to get out of the bed and follow Riley out into the living room.

"I made a cup of coffee for you," Riley said, handing Rory her cup as they sat down on Rory and Tristan's couch, her head on his shoulder as she tried to go back to sleep, "Drink up. Mom's going to be calling soon."

"I wonder what she'll do if we're ever living in different timezones?" Rory asked as she took a big gulp of her coffee.

"She'll have to learn three-way calling I guess or call us separately," Riley said, placing an arm around her, "Though I like that we've done these past two birthdays getting the story together."

"Yeah, like it would have been when we were kids," Rory said, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch to cover them up, glancing at the clock on the wall that indicated it was now three fifty-three, as Riley's phone rang.

"Happy birthday, Little One's," Lorelai said when Riley answered the call, "Wow, twenty-two. I can't believe how fast you two have grown up."

"Really, feels slow," Riley said.

"Trust me, it's been fast," Lorelai said, "So what do you think of your lives so far?"

"Hmm, pretty good," Rory said.

"Any complaints?" Lorelai asked.

"I like we'd like that whole humidity thing to go away," Riley said.

"Yeah," Rory agreed.

"Okay, I'll work on that," Lorelai told them.

"So, you think we look older?" Rory asked.

"Oh yeah, you walk into Denny's before five, you'll have yourself a discount," Lorelai said.

"Good deal," Riley said.

"You guys know what I think?" Lorelai asked.

"What?" they asked at the same time.

"I think you're great, cool kids and the best friends a Mom could have," Lorelai said.

"Right back at ya," they told her.

"And it's just so hard to believe that exactly this time, many moons ago, I was lying in that bed…" Lorelai began.

"Oh, boy, here we go," Rory said.

"Only I had this big, enormous stomach, and big, fat ankles," Lorelai said, "And I was swearing like a sailor."

"On leave," Riley said.

"On leave, right," Lorelai said, "So there I was…"

"In labor," Rory and Riley said together.

"And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite," Lorelai told them.

"I wonder if the Walton's ever did this?" Riley asked.

"And I was screaming and swearing and being surrounded as I was by a hundred prominent doctors, I just assumed there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave me," Lorelai said.

"But there wasn't," Rory said.

"Though pelting the nurses sure was fun," Lorelai said.

"We love you, Mom," Riley told her.

"Shh, I'm just getting to the good part," Lorelai said as she continued on sharing the story of Rory and Riley's birth, talking for the ten minutes between the time Riley was born until the time Rory was born.

* * *

A few hours later, Rory woke for the second time. As she opened her eyes she noticed a sticky note had been left on her forehead. Reading it after removing it from her head, she turned her head that was still resting on Riley's shoulder, towards him and noticed he too had a sticky note attached to his forehead.

"Ry? Ry, wake up," Rory said as she removed the blanket that had been covering them and sat up on the couch.

"What the hell?" Riley asked, opening his eyes and seeing the sticky note on his forehead.

"It seems we've been abandoned," Rory said as Riley read the note that was left for him.

"Yours pretty much the same?" Riley asked.

"Yep. _Happy birthday. I love you. I'll see you tonight. Love, Tristan. P.S. There's a car downstairs to take you and Riley to your first destination_ ," Rory recited from her note.

"What the hell are those two up to?" Riley asked.

"Who knows, but I guess we better get ready. It seems we have a busy day ahead of us," Rory said, walking to the kitchen to pour her and Riley a cup of coffee from the pot Tristan left for them.

"Thank you. Happy birthday, Baby Girl,". Riley said, toasting her with his cup.

"Happy birthday, Big Brother," Rory replied, taking a sip of her coffee, "Hey, this is Luke's coffee"

"Huh, good start to the day," Riley said, taking another sip of his coffee before placing his cup back on the counter, "I'm going to grab a shower and I'll be back up in a few minutes."

* * *

Half an hour later, Rory and Riley were in the back of a limo being driven by Logan's old driver Frank to a surprise destination.

"Thanks for getting us our coffee, Frank," Rory told him.

"My pleasure, Miss Rory. And a very happy birthday to you both," Frank said.

"Thanks, Frank," Riley said, "Any chance you can tell us where you're taking us?"

"Afraid not, Mister Riley. I've been instructed to keep it to myself," Frank told them.

When Rory and Riley first met Frank they tried to get him to call them by their first names, but after his refusal since he wanted to keep things formal, they got him to agree to calling them by their name with the Miss and Mister in front of them since their two last names could be a mouthful.

"Ugh, surprises," Rory grumbled.

"I'm sure it will be good, though, Baby Girl," Riley said.

Two hours later after making a stop at the Tick Tock Diner for Rory and Riley to have breakfast, Frank stopped outside a building in Pennsylvania Plaza.

"Okay so clearly whatever we're doing is in New York, but what could Tristan and Stephanie be planning for us to do here?" Rory wondered.

"Mister Riley, Miss Rory, these are for you," Frank said, handing them each a small gift box to open before they got out of the car.

"Gloves?" Rory asked.

"And a hat?" Riley questioned, "it's October in New York, in fifty degrees. We don't need hats and gloves."

"We may inside there," Rory said as she stepped out of the limo and saw the sign for Madison Square Garden.

"The Garden?" Riley questioned.

"Have a good time, Mister Riley, Miss Rory," Frank said, "I'll pick you up for lunch in a few hours."

"Thanks, Frank," Rory said, following Riley towards the entrance.

"Oh, my," Riley said when he and Rory were ushered to the skating rink where they saw a banner hanging above that said 'Happy Birthday Rory and Riley.'

"They rented out the entire rink for us, Ry," Rory said.

"I haven't been skating since, well, I think I was maybe sixteen," Riley said as he and Rory sat down to put their skates on, "Sarah and I went once."

"Mom and I went skating from time to time growing up," Rory said, "But the time I remember the most was the year I turned twelve and we celebrated my birthday late so I could go skating in Central Park."

"Dad and I did that once, too," Riley said, "I don't remember how old I was. I was probably around twelve, too, I think."

"Did you tell Steph about that?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, why?" Riley asked.

"I told Tristan about it, too," Rory said, as they made their way onto the ice, "I shared it with him when he was asking about my favorite birthdays."

"What year did you tell him was your favorite?" Riley asked.

"I shared a few memories with him," Rory said, "But, I told him that the best really were the one's I've been able to share with you."

"Me, too, Baby Girl," Riley said, taking hold of her hand to pull her to him to hug her, "I've had some great birthdays, but nothing beats getting to spend this day with you."

"But, it's pretty nice of Tristan and Stephanie to recreate this memory for us to share," Rory said.

* * *

After a couple of hours of skating, both showing off a bit what they could do while taking pictures to remember the day, they took off their skates and went back to the limo to go out to lunch.

"Where are we going next, Frank?" Rory asked when they got back in the limo.

"You are going shopping," Frank told her, "Mister DuGrey and Miss Marsh have requested you find new outfits for tonight."

"And tonight is?" Riley asked.

"A surprise, Mister Riley," Frank said.

"Face it, Ry, we're not getting anything out of Frank," Rory said.

That evening after stopping at bookstore to treat each other to a few new books for their birthday, Rory and Riley were dropped off at The Plaza and led to one of the ballrooms where beyond the door they heard,

"Surprise! Happy birthday!"

"Oh my," Rory said, looking around the room at their family and friends that filled the room.

"Happy birthday, Mary," Tristan said, coming to greet her, pulling her into his arms for a kiss.

"This is amazing, Tris. I can't believe you did all of this," Rory said, looking around the room, seeing a Twister mat on the floor, pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata, toy trains, a basketball hoop, even a few tables set up for a teddy bear tea party.

"I'd didn't do it alone. Steph and I had the idea together, but we couldn't have done it without Chris and Lorelai filling us in on more details of your birthdays," Tristan said.

"And all the pictures," Stephanie said, walking over to them with Riley.

"Pictures?" Riley asked

"Yes, pictures," Tristan said, signaling to Chris to start up the projector as he and Stephanie led Rory and Riley to a table up front to watch the video they put together.

As the Five For Fighting song, _100 years_ , began playing the words 'Rory and Riley' appeared on the screen with one of the pictures of them the day they were born. As the song played, picture after picture of Rory and Riley at their birthday parties through the years were mixed together with pictures of them starting from the time they met at Yale to the present.

After the video Rory and Riley spent time together with each other and their friends and family creating new birthday memories while sharing old ones doing the activities they loved from their childhood birthdays.

* * *

"You're amazing, you know that?" Rory asked Tristan as they laid together in their room in The Plaza that evening. Since they were off school for two days for fall break, Tristan and Stephanie arranged for rooms for the four of them, "Today was the absolute best birthday I've ever had. Thank you."

"Anything for my Mary," Tristan said, kissing her, "I love you."

"I love you, too, Tris," Rory said, kissing his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: "My parents are coming to parents weekend,"

* * *

"Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking. How can I help you?" Lorelai asked, answering the inn's phone.

"Lore, it's me," Christopher said.

"Hey, Chris. What's up?" Lorelai asked.

"Did you get that postcard about parents weekend at Yale?" he asked.

"Yeah, I get one every year, I just never saw a reason to go," she told him, "Our kids like us. They visit us and let us visit whenever we want. We don't need a mandated weekend to visit our kids at Yale."

"I thought the same thing, but I was thinking, with this being their last one, maybe we should check it out," Christopher said.

"You're serious?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, why not. It could be fun," Christopher said.

"Were you thinking just you and me or are we having Luke and Sherry come, too?" Lorelai asked.

"I was thinking all four of us," Christopher said, "We could go to a lecture or two, check out the campus. Then maybe take the kids, Tristan and Stephanie out for dinner or something if they're available. What do you think?"

"I think it would great. I'll talk to Luke about it and see who we can get to watch Sophie. April's on fall break this weekend so she's going to be in New Mexico with Anna." Lorelai said, "When were you thinking of going?"

"Saturday for sure, but we could stay in New Haven and do both days if you're interested," Christopher said, "And my parents already said they would keep Gigi for the weekend if you want to leave Sophie with them."

"Can they handle a six year old and a baby?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm sure they'll be fine and Gigi loves to help. She adores Sophie," Christopher said.

"That's true. I'll think about it and get back to you after I talk to Luke," Lorelai said, "Have you mentioned this parents day thing to Rory or Riley?"

"Not yet. I wanted to get your take on it first. I didn't want to tell them I'd be there if you weren't into the idea," he told her.

"You can go without me Chris," Lorelai said, "but I appreciate that you want us both to be there. It will nice to do something together as their parents."

* * *

"Hey, Mom," Rory said, answering her phone as she sat in the newspaper office, going over a few stories while Riley did the same, stopping to answer his ringing phone.

"Hey, kid, so guess who's coming to parents weekend?" Lorelai asked.

"A bunch of lame-o parents whose kids hate them," Rory said.

"Yes and your parents," Lorelai said.

"Seriously?" Rory asked, looking over at Riley, who by the confused look on his face, she was assuming was talking to their dad about the same thing.

"Seriously. Your dad and I were talking about it and since this is your last year, we figured why not," Lorelai said.

"Is it just going to be you and Dad?" Rory asked.

"No, Luke and Sherry are coming, too and we were hoping if you and Riley aren't too busy we could all go out for dinner Saturday night," Lorelai said.

"Yeah. I think we can make that work. Ry and I will be crazy busy most of the day, getting our special parents weekend edition out. It's the last issue we're editing before our term is up so want it to be the best," Rory told her, "but we should have it done by dinner."

"Great and would you mind terribly if we stayed the whole weekend?" Lorelai asked.

"No, that's fine. We have our guest room and Ry and Steph have theirs if you guys want to stay with us," Rory said.

"That would be great kid," Lorelai said, "I know Luke would prefer that to a hotel."

"Are you bringing Sophie with you?" Rory asked.

"No, Straub and Francine are going to be watching Gigi and offered to keep Sophie with them, too," Lorelai told her, "We're going to drop her off Saturday morning before going to Yale."

"That should be fun for her. I'm sure Gigi will love having her around all weekend," Rory said.

"And I imagine Francine will love having two granddaughters to spoil," Lorelai said.

"Oh, definitely. Well, I hate to cut this short, but I have a ton of paper stuff to do," Rory said, noticing Riley has just ended his call and was now waiting for Rory so they could talk.

"Okay, sweets. I'll talk to you later and we'll see you Saturday," Lorelai said.

"See you Saturday, Mom," Rory said.

"So," Riley said, taking a seat on the edge of Rory's desk, "Parents weekend."

"With our parents," Rory said.

"There's no getting out of this one, is there?" Riley asked.

"Not likely," Rory told him, "It's a good thing we like our parents. Did Dad talk to you about staying over?"

"Yeah, he asked if I was cool with them staying all weekend so I offered the guest room to him and Sherry," Riley said.

"I offered ours to Mom and Luke," Rory told him, "Did he talk to you about dinner on Saturday?"

"Yeah and he said we could choose," Riley said.

"Goodfellas?" Rory suggested.

"Good entrees and a big pasta selection," Riley said.

"Plus, Mom will go nuts over the dessert menu," Rory said.

"Definitely. Okay, I'll let Dad know that's where we want to go so he can make a reservation," Riley said.

"Sounds good," Rory said, "We should get back to work."

"Is this you asking me to remove myself from your desk?" Riley said.

"Nicely, yes," Rory said, staring at him when he hadn't moved, "Now, move your ass, Ry and get back to work."

"Fine, I'm going," Riley said with a laugh as he went back to his desk to continue the work he had been doing before Christopher called.

* * *

"My parents are coming to parents weekend," Rory told Tristan when they sat down to dinner that night.

"Why?" he asked, "They've never come before."

"No idea. From how it seemed when Mom was talking to me and what I got from Riley after his talk with Dad, the postcard came in the mail talking about it and they realized this weekend is their last chance to do a school thing for us," Rory said, "I'm thinking they got nostalgic and were thinking they've already missed so much with the two of us so they jumped at the chance to do something as a family."

"Are just your parents coming or are Luke and Sherry coming, too?" Tristan asked.

"They're coming, too and since they are planning to take part in the entire weekend I told Mom that her and Luke could stay here," Rory told him, "And Riley is going to have Dad and Sherry stay with him and Steph."

"That's cool," Tristan said, "We just need to double check that the guest room is ready for them. It's been awhile since anyone's used it."

"Yeah, I think no one since April was here," Rory said.

"So, what's the plan for while they're here?" Tristan asked, "Are they going to just hang out or are they planning to actually spend time on campus attending the lectures and everything?"

"I'm not sure what all they are planning, but I think they want to do it up right; Take in the only parents weekend experience. Except for my Mom, they haven't spent too much time here, other than to help us move in to our apartments," Rory said, "So I imagine they'll want to look around the campus, tour a few buildings. They also want to take us out to dinner on Saturday. They let Riley and I choose."

"And what crazy place have you and Riley chosen?" he asked.

"Just Goodfellas," Rory told him, "We figured Italian was the best way to go since I know they have things on their menu that everyone will love."

"Well, I'm looking forward to it," Tristan said, "It's been awhile since we've been there."

* * *

Saturday morning after dropping Gigi and Sophie off at the Hayden's, Lorelai, Luke, Christopher, and Sherry met up outside of the kids apartment so they could all go in together. After dropping off Christopher and Sherry's things at Riley and Stephanie's, everyone went upstairs to Rory and Tristan's.

"Welcome Parents," Rory said, walking from the kitchen, setting a tray of drinks on the coffee table as everyone took a seat, "Luke, I've got a tea for you and for everyone else, there's plenty of coffee."

"Thank you. Let me just take our bags to our room and then I'll grab it," Luke said.

"Have a seat, Luke. I got them," Tristan said.

"Thank you, Tristan," Lorelai said, taking a cup of coffee as Tristan picked up their bags to take them to the guest room.

"Was Sophie okay when you dropped her off with Grandma and Grandpa?" Riley asked, taking a cup of coffee and returning to his seat on the couch next to Rory.

"Oh yeah. She was great. She hardly noticed us once Gigi had her attention," Lorelai said, "As soon as Gigi got on the floor to play with her, her attention was focused solely on her."

"Aww. That' so sweet," Rory said, "I love that they get along."

"Yeah, Gigi has really taken to Sophie," Sherry said, "I'm surprised she hasn't asked for a little sister of her own yet."

"Me too, but I imagine she looks at Sophie as her sister already since she knows that Rory is her sister," Christopher said.

"Probably," Sherry said.

"So, what are you planning to do today?" Tristan asked, coming back into the living room and taking a seat on the couch.

"Well, we need to head over to campus and register first," Christopher said, "Then we figured we would check out the brunch mixer for a little while."

"And by a little while, he means as long as we can stand it," Lorelai said.

"So, basically like five minutes," Rory said.

"Probably even less than that," Lorelai said, "Then after we're planning to tour the campus a bit. Luke and Sherry haven't spent as much time here as Chris and I so we're going to tour the campus."

"If you want Steph and I can show you around," Tristan said.

"Yeah, with Riley and Rory busy at the paper, we'd be happy to show you around. Give you the campus experience from our perspective," Stephanie said.

"As long as we don't spend hours in the library or staring at benches and statues," Lorelai said.

"Hey, those are very historical parts of Yale," Rory said.

"You say historical. I say boring," Lorelai said.

* * *

"Alright, everyone, layout is locked," Rory said, to the staff as she and Riley finished going over the layout of the paper.

"Excellent work, guys," Riley said, taking a seat on top of Rory's desk as the staff began to leave the newsroom, "You alright?"

"Yeah. I just can't believe our term as co-editors is up," Rory said, "It's so sad."

"We had a good time. We put together some great issues," Riley said, "But, it's time to move on. Now we'll be able to just write and focus on our last few months of school."

"Right. Okay, let's get going so we can get ready for dinner," Rory said, "I'm starving and I've been looking forward to the fried calamari at Goodfellas all week."

After leaving the newsroom, Rory and Riley went back to their apartments to get ready for dinner. An hour after they got home, their parents arrived back with Tristan and Stephanie and the eight of them drove over to Goodfellas Restaurant.

"Do we want to share a few appetizers?" Lorelai asked as the waiter poured wine into their glasses.

"As long as we get fried calamari, I'm game," Rory said.

"I like the fried mozzarella," Riley said.

"The antipasto is pretty good," Tristan said.

"Why don't we get all three," Christopher suggested, "And maybe the clams casino, too."

"Sounds delicious," Lorelai said.

Conversation flowed as they at their dinner. Rory talked Tristan into getting the filet cognac while she ordered the pappardelle and meatballs. Since the filet cognac came with lobster as well, Rory wanted to share so they could both have a bit of pasta, steak, and seafood. Luke decided on the grilled salmon while Sherry got the sea bass. Lorelai went with the steak pizzaiola and Christopher, the linguine with clams. Riley and Stephanie decided to share as well, both choosing different pastas: Riley the fettuccine alfredo and Stephanie the ravioli of the day.

"I'm going to run to the restroom before we order dessert," Stephanie said, pushing her chair out a bit as their waiter came to clear their plates.

"Wait for me," Rory said, following suit with Stephanie and getting up from her chair, "I have to go, too."

"So what looks good?" Lorelai asked, perusing the dessert menu, "Do I want the cupcake, the sundae, or ooh, tiramisu."

"Can we hold off ordering dessert for the moment?" Tristan asked, "I don't know how long Steph can keep Rory away, but I have something I need to talk to you all about."

"All of us?" Christopher asked.

"Is everything alright, Tristan?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes. Well, next month it will have been five years since I left Chilton to go to military school," Tristan began, "That day I came to the school and said goodbye to Rory was the hardest thing I've ever done. She was and is the only girl I've ever loved and that day as I walked away from her I was sure I would never see her again. I'd like to erase the memory of that by making a new one."

"Okay," Lorelai said.

"And what's the memory you want to replace it with?" Christopher asked.

"I want the memory of that day to be a happy one, one we'll remember for the rest of our lives," Tristan said, "I want to remember that day as the day Rory agreed to be my wife."

"Your...your wife?" Lorelai questioned.

"Yes. I want to ask Rory to marry me and I was hoping to get your blessing, all of you," Tristan said.

* * *

 **AN:** So, my initial plan didn't have me writing Tristan asking for their blessing. I was going to bring it up after the proposal, but as I wrote this chapter I changed my mind. Thanks for reading!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: "I feel like I should be going to prom in this or something, though."

* * *

Rory woke up and rolled over to snuggle up against Tristan. Reaching her hand out she found his side of the bed, not only empty, but cold. He had clearly been up for awhile. Opening her eyes she found a thorn-less, long stem lavender rose sitting atop his pillow with a note attached.

" **What's in a name? That which we call a rose,**

 **by any other name would smell as sweet."**

 _Roses come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Each of them means something different. This first one stands for love at first sight. I loved you from the day I walked into that classroom at Chilton and I love you more each day when I wake up to you laying next to me each morning._

"Morning, Baby Girl," Riley said when Rory walked into the kitchen, "There's breakfast for you and coffee. And this."

"Another rose?" Rory questioned, looking at the yellow rose he handed her that was red on the edges, "What is Tristan up to and I thought yellow roses were a sign of friendship, not love?"

"Read the note and eat your breakfast. We have a busy day ahead of us," Riley said.

"Ugh, fine," Rory said, taking a sip from the cup of coffee Riley sat before her, "Mmm, it's Luke's."

 _The yellow rose with red tips. While yellow does symbolize friendship, the red tips reflect the act of falling in love. I may have loved you from the moment I saw you, but the day you "fell" for me was the day I knew I was really and truly in love._

"The day I fell for him?" Rory questioned, "He put fell in quotations so he means it literally. What is this about?"

"Can't tell you, Baby Girl. I'm just here to escort you around," Riley said.

"Escort me where? He didn't tell me a place to go," Rory said.

"Sure about that?" Riley asked, "He may not have said it directly, but I'm sure you could figure out the next place to go."

"Is there going to be a rose at every stop? How many are there?" Rory asked.

"I'm not at liberty to say," Riley said.

"Come on, Ry. You have to know something. Tell me what this is all about," Rory said.

"Sorry, Ror. I've been sworn to secrecy," Riley told her.

"Fine. Let me get dressed and then we'll head to the coffee cart," Rory said, reading the note over again, "I first saw Tristan there at the beginning of freshman year. I tripped and nearly fell, but he caught me."

"I remember that. That was when I told you I had left my book in class, but I lied so you and Tristan could run into each other," Riley said.

"Thank you for that," Rory said, placing her arms around him, hugging him from behind and kissing his cheek as he sat on the couch.

"Anytime," Riley said, "And leave your phone. Tristan won't answer if you try to call him anyway."

* * *

Half an hour later after Rory had showered and changed they were on campus at their favorite coffee kiosk.

"Nick! It's good to see you. What are you doing here?" Rory asked when she saw him.

"Tristan asked if I would come by today to make your coffee and give you your next note," Nick said, handing her three red roses and an envelope.

"Thank you. At least I know what the red roses mean," Rory said, opening the note as Nick prepared coffee for her and Riley.

 _A symbol of love is what this color represents and the three of them together signifies those three special words._

"So where to next?" Riley asked, taking the coffee from Nick.

"Stars Hollow," Rory said, "We need to go to the playground at Stars Hollow Elementary."

"The playground?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, it was Founder's Day freshman year. We were swinging and chasing each other around the place when I realized how I felt," Rory told him, "We said 'I love you' that day."

"Okay, Stars Hollow it is," Riley said.

After arriving in Stars Hollow, Riley went off to Luke's to get lunch ordered for them as Tristan had told him there would be two places in Stars Hollow with flowers. Rory was going to the playground and planned to meet Riley at Luke's once she had her next rose.

* * *

Arriving at the playground, Rory found a coral rose and her next note laying atop the swing she sat on while he pushed her.

 _Coral is the color to represent passion and desire._

"That's it?" Rory wondered, picking up the flower, "Passion and desire. I guess it doesn't take much more than that to know where he is sending me next."

Leaving the playground, Rory went to her old house. She was thankful the back door was unlocked for her as she hadn't thought to bring her key. A table had been placed in her old room where her bed one was. On top of the table, her next note and a white rose laid atop a pillow.

 _To new beginnings…._

"That was even shorter than the last one," Rory told herself with a laugh. She knew what he meant. They had said those exact words to each other on their second date at the treehouse in her grandparents backyard.

* * *

"Good, you're just in time," Riley said when Rory walked in as Luke was laying their plates down on the table.

"Thanks, Luke," Rory said.

"You're welcome," Luke said before going back to the kitchen.

"So, where are we going after lunch?" Riley asked.

"The treehouse," Rory told him.

"Hmm, nice. He's got all his bases covered, seems like," Riley said.

"I guess. I still have no idea what he's up to, but it's sweet," Rory said, taking a bite of her burger, "And it's fun taking this little trip down memory lane."

After lunch, they stopped in at the inn to say hello to Lorelai and the house to say hello to April. When they arrived at the Hayden's, they first went into the house to see their grandparents before going to the backyard to the treehouse.

"So, this is where I leave you," Riley said when they reached the treehouse.

"What? You're leaving me here?" Rory asked.

"My job is done. You'll find your last note which will give you the clue to your last destination up in the treehouse," Riley said, "A car will be here in a few minutes to take you."

"Wait, you're not taking me, why?" Rory asked.

"It's all part of the mystery," Riley told her, "Just enjoy it Baby Girl, okay?"

"Okay," Rory said, "I'll see you later?"

"Eventually," Riley told her, "Have fun."

Once Riley left, Rory climbed the ladder up to the tree house. Inside the treehouse lay a single light blue rose and her next notes.

 _When found in a rose the color blue represents the impossible and unattainable. The lighter color of this one reflects the first flush of love, that feeling of being completely entranced from the very first meeting. The moment I saw you, I had that feeling. And often for the longest time I found the possibility of being with you to be nothing but a dream._

"Where am I supposed to go?" Rory wondered, reading through the note again, "Chilton, I guess."

After climbing down the ladder, Rory went back into the house to say goodbye to her grandparents going to the car waiting for her outside.

"Miss Rory," Frank said, holding the door to the limo open.

"Thanks, Frank. I'm sure I'm supposed to go to Chilton after the last note I got," Rory told her.

"Yes, Miss Rory," Frank told her, closing the door and walking to his side to get in.

"Do know what Tristan is up to?" Rory asked.

"I've only been given a couple of addresses, Miss Rory," Frank said, "I was instructed to pick you up here and then take you to the first of the addresses I was given."

"So I'm going somewhere after Chilton or you are taking me somewhere before we go there," Rory said.

"I'm not at liberty to say, Miss Rory," Frank told her.

"Okay. I'm really starting to hate surprises," Rory grumbled, wishing she had ignored Riley and brought her phone with her so she could talk to someone.

Twenty minutes later, Frank pulled up outside a spa. He dropped Rory off with instructions to just go straight up to the front desk since they were expecting her and they would call him when it was time to pick her up.

"I'll see you soon, Miss Rory," Frank said.

"Thanks, Frank," Rory said as she walked away from the car and into the spa.

"Miss Gilmore-Hayden, welcome," Casey, the owner of the spa said when Rory walked in.

"Thanks. So, what is the plan here?" Rory asked.

"We have a full afternoon planned for you. Massage, hair, nails, facial," Casey told Rory, leading her towards a room, "Now, why don't you get yourself into one of our robes and we'll get started."

A few hours later, Rory had been given both a manicure and pedicure. She had a facial and massage. Her hair was curled and partially pinned back in the middle of her head.

"Now, for the final touch," Casey said, "Your dress."

"Dress?" Rory asked, "What dress?"

"This dress," Casey said, opening a door for Rory.

"Oh, my," Rory said, walking towards the dress hanging from a hook in the room. In front of her was a floor length, sleeveless, midnight blue ball gown with a beaded top and a plunging back, "This is gorgeous."

"If you need any help, just holler," Casey said, "I'm going to call your driver and tell him you'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks," Rory said, turning to look at the dress again before taking it off the hanger to put it on, "Wow!"

* * *

After putting on the dress, Rory walked out to the lobby of the spa so she could wait for Frank to arrive.

"You look lovely, Miss Gilmore-Hayden," Casey said.

"Thank you. It's a little much, but I like it." Rory said, "I feel like I should be going to prom in this or something, though."

"Miss Rory," Frank said, walking in a moment later, "Are you ready to head to your final destination."

"I've been ready for hours, Frank," Rory said, walking towards the door as he held it open for her.

A short drive later, Frank was opening her door and directing her towards the familiar building of her former high school. She wasn't sure where she would find Tristan, but was hopeful there would be some indication when she walked in the door.

"Oh, wow!" Rory exclaimed, when she reached the hallway where her locker was. Every hall she walked had been empty so far until this one. Beginning at her locker the floor was lined with candles and rose petals of every color. The path went down the hall and past their first shared classroom, ending just outside the auditorium where the door had been propped open. Taking a deep breath Rory walked down the hall towards the open door, pausing when Tristan walked out in a tux, one hand behind his back, "Tristan."

"Five years ago today was the worst day of life. I made the biggest mistake of my life and that mistake took me away from you. Five years ago we stood in this spot and I had to tell you goodbye. At that time, I was sure that goodbye would be forever," Tristan began, "The petals that line these halls came from nine hundred and ninety-nine roses."

"That's a lot of roses," Rory said, giving him a smile.

"Just as the colors mean something, the amounts do as well," Tristan said, "These nine hundred and ninety-nine roses signify that my love for you will last until the end of time."

"Tris," Rory whispered, beginning to tear up.

"Let me get this out, please," he said.

"Okay," she said, wiping away her tears, thankful the stylist at the spa went with waterproof makeup.

"Adding two more roses speak of a faithful love that will live on forever. These two roses," Tristan said, bringing his hand around front to show her the red and white roses that were entwined at the stem, "A red and white rose given together signify unity. Entwining them...entwining them together signifies a question."

"Rory Gilmore-Hayden," Tristan said, taking a box out of his pocket as he knelt before her, hearing her intake of breath before continuing, "Will you marry me?"

* * *

 **AN:** And we have a proposal. It wasn't my initial plan when I started writing this version back with Rory & Riley to have the proposal happen at this point. My original plan was to follow the storyline of the show and have the proposal occur the same time as Logan's, but when mapping out story lines from season seven that I could incorporate into this story I realized the time frame for French Twist matched up to Run Away, Little Boy and it seemed the perfect time for a Trory proposal was on the anniversary of when they said goodbye. I really enjoyed writing this proposal. I hope you liked it.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:** Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you liked the proposal idea. I had so much fun writing it. And because I wanted to get to the answer and the next part of the evening, I wrote this immediately after posting the last chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 20: "You're too much sometimes,"

* * *

"Yes!" Rory said, her tears, freely flowing.

"What?" he asked, looking up into her eyes, wanting to be sure he heard her correctly.

"I said yes. I love you, Tristan. Of course I'll marry you," Rory told him, dropping to her knees to hug him.

"I love you so much," Tristan said, placing his hand on her face before kissing her, "I love you so damn much."

"Can I have that ring now?" Rory asked, pulling back from him to catch her breath.

"Oh, right, yeah," he said, taking the ring out of the box and sliding it onto her finger.

"It's gorgeous," Rory said, in awe at the piece of jewelry that now adorned her finger. Knowing Rory wouldn't want something to expensive or flashy, Tristan chose a fourteen karat white gold, one carat, princess cut diamond with a vintage style design. Rory would probably still think he spent too much if she knew the amount, but the moment he saw it he knew it was the one.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, pulling her two her feet with him, leaning his forehead against hers, "You're going to be wearing it for a very long time."

"Forever," Rory said, wrapping her arms around him to hold him close and kiss him again.

"I do have one more surprise for you," he said, pulling away from her.

"Another surprise?" Rory questioned, "Where are we going to now?"

"Not too far," he told her, "But I need you to close your eyes."

Once Rory's eyes were closed, Tristan took hold of her hand and began leading her down the hall to his destination, stopping when they reached a set of double doors.

"Okay, you can open your eyes," Tristan said.

"We're outside the cafeteria," Rory said, recognizing the doors in front of her, "Do I hear music."

"Rory Gilmore," Tristan said, leaving her second last name off on purpose as he opened the door, "Welcome to prom!"

Walking into the cafeteria Rory was met with happy faces of their friends all applauding them as they walked into the room. In addition to the balloons, streamers, and flowers that filled the room there was all a sign congratulation Rory and Tristan on their engagement.

"I can't believe you made prom for me," Rory said.

"Well, you never went and military school didn't have one," Tristan said.

"You're too much sometimes," Rory said, hugging him, before turning back towards the crowd of people in front of her.

Tristan had assembled all their friends as well as their boyfriends and girlfriends. Riley was there with Stephanie, Lane with Zach, Paris and Doyle. Jess was there with Olivia, April had Jay, Dean was there with Lindsay. He had even got in touch with Madeline and Louise who brought their boyfriends, as well as Logan, Colin, and Finn who came with their dates for the evening. It was four years later then she originally planned, but it was just as she imagined her prom would have been like her senior year.

* * *

"May I cut in?" Riley asked, approaching Tristan and Rory as they danced to Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This."

"Sure," Tristan said, kissing Rory before pulling away as the song ended and changed to Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus singing, "I Learned From You."

"Are you happy, Baby Girl?" Riley asked as he took his sister in his arms.

"Ecstatic," she told him, bringing her left hand up to place on his shoulder so she could admire her ring.

"That's some ring," Riley said.

"It's perfect. And the proposal was perfect," Rory said, "Thank you for helping with it. I'm sorry if I was a pain in the ass."

"Eh, you were all right. Being a pain in the ass is what little sisters are for," Riley told her.

"Yeah, guess so," she said, resting her head on his shoulder, "I can't believe I'm engaged."

"Believe it. It's real and I've never seen you as happy as you are at this moment," Riley said, kissing her forehead as the song changed again, "You deserve the best."

"Can I have my fiancee back now?" Tristan asked, giving Riley a slight smirk.

"Congratulations, Baby Girl," Riley said, hugging Rory, "You, too, Tris."

"Thanks, man," Tristan said, shaking Riley's hand before taking Rory into his arms again.

Hours later, Rory was sure she had danced with everyone there, Finn requesting to dance with her three different times. After starting her morning early doing Tristan's scavenger hunt, she was now exhausted. Saying goodbye to everyone and giving Riley the keys to lock up the school, Tristan led Rory to the limo for Frank to take them to the hotel he rented for the evening.

"It wouldn't be prom without a night in a hotel room," Tristan said, setting Rory on the floor as they entered their suite.

"True, but you didn't have to carry me," Rory said.

"Practice," he said, wrapping his arms around her, running his fingers down her exposed back until he reached the zipper just above her waist, kissing her neck as he pulled the zipper down. Pulling the straps down away from her shoulders, Tristan let the dress fall and pool at her feet, picking her up in his arms once again as he carried her towards their bed.

* * *

The next morning, Rory was up early, unable to go back to sleep so she left messages for her parents and grandparents, requesting that they come over to their apartment that night for dinner. She wanted to tell them she was engaged and so no one would be upset that someone else knew first, she wanted everyone there together. With Riley and April knowing and Tristan telling her he asked for permission, she assumed they all knew already that he was proposing, but wanted to confirm it for everyone at once.

"Good morning, Mrs. DuGrey," Tristan said, coming up behind her as she sat on the balcony outside their room, a cup of of coffee in hand as she watched the sunrise.

"I like the sound of that," Rory told him, leaning her head against his chest when he picked her up from her seat to place her in his lap.

"Me too," he said, kissing her cheek, "So, I know we've discussed this a bit before, but do you have an idea in mind of when you want to get married? People are probably going to ask."

"Well, at least not until after we graduate and get settled into where we're going to live, wherever that may be," Rory said, "So, assuming I get the Reston or some other job right away after we graduate, I could see us getting married either summer after next or fall."

"Fall sounds good to me," Tristan said, "Wow, two years from now we could be married."

"Pretty cool, right?" Rory asked, lifting her head up to look at him.

"Very cool," he said, kissing her, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she said.

* * *

Stopping at the store on their way back to their apartment, Rory and Tristan picked up everything they would need to prepare dinner for her family. She asked him on the way to the store if he was going to tell his parents and he said he knew he should, but knew they wouldn't be thrilled so he wasn't in any rush to call them.

"They're here," Tristan called to Rory when he heard the buzzer.

"I'm coming," Rory said, walking into the living room taking his hand as they waited for their first guests to knock on the door.

"Let me see that ring!" Lorelai exclaimed, grabbing Rory's hand as soon as she and Luke walked through the door with April and Sophie.

"I guess there's no reason for me to announce it," Rory said, laughing at her Mom's interest in her new piece of jewelry.

"None at all, the kid asked the whole family for their blessing so we all know," Lorelai said, turning Rory's hand different ways to catch the light from different angles, "This ring is gorgeous. You did good, Tristan."

"Thanks, Lorelai," he said, "Can I get anyone a drink?"

After bringing drinks out to everyone, Christopher and Sherry had arrived with Gigi and Riley and Stephanie had come up from their apartment. Last to arrive were the grandparents. Sitting around the living room, enjoying their drinks after dinner, they all began to discuss Tristan's proposal.

"Very creative, son," Straub said, after hearing of Tristan's scavenger hunt.

"I love the rose idea," Emily said.

"It was really sweet that you did so many different colors and then used them again at the school," Francine said, "You picked a good one, Rory."

"Are you thinking of going with roses for the wedding?" Emily asked.

"We haven't talked about it, but that would make the most sense," Rory said, "Probably not all those different colors, but maybe a few of them. Like maybe the lavender and white."

"Those colors would be lovely," Emily said.

"Do you have an idea of when you'd like to get married?" Francine asked.

"We were thinking roughly two years from now," Tristan said.

"Yeah, we want to wait until we graduate and get settled with where we're going to be living and working," Rory said, "And we don't want to be rushed to plan so two years from now would probably be the earliest."

"I think that's a sound idea," Richard said.

"Thanks, Grandpa," Rory said.

"Were you thinking of getting married in the fall?" Stephanie asked.

"Most likely. I want to have the wedding outside somewhere and I think it will be pretty with all the leaves changing," Rory said.

"Plus, it was fall when we first met and when we saw each other again at Yale," Tristan said,

"Not to mention, when you got engaged," Lorelai said, tearing up at the thought.

"You okay, Mom?" Rory asked.

"I'm fine," Lorelai said, wiping away her tears, "I just can't believe my little girl is getting married."

"Not for awhile Mom. We've only been engaged for twenty-four hours," Rory told her, "It's going to be quite some time still before we get married."

"Oh, I know. I'm just being emotional. It's hard to believe in just a few months you'll be graduating college and moving off to live and work in who knows where," Lorelai said, "Then before you know it, you'll be married and having babies of your own."

* * *

After saying goodbye to everyone, Rory and Tristan worked on getting everything cleaned up before turning in for the evening. As they laid together in their bed, Rory's hand on his chest, she looked at her ring and smiled.

"What?" Tristan asked, wondering what was on her mind.

"I'm just so happy. I can't believe this is real. Yesterday really happened. We're engaged. We're getting married," Rory said.

"That we are," he told her, wrapping both arms around her to hold her close and kiss her.

"I love you, Bible Boy," Rory said.

"I love you, too, Mary," Tristan said, kissing the top of her head when she laid it down on his chest, closing her eyes, "Goodnight."

"Night, Tris," Rory mumbled, kissing his chest before drifting off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: "Yeah, that professor we've got for our first class can be tough,"

* * *

"What in the...did you rob a yarn store?" Tristan asked, coming into his and Rory's apartment a few days before Thanksgiving, finding Rory in the living room surrounded by looked like hundreds of balls of yarn.

"Really, that's your go to," Rory said, "How do you know I didn't buy all this yarn to see which one our cat liked best?"

"We don't have a cat," he told her.

"We could get one," she said.

"You're a Gilmore, you don't do pets," he said, "In fact it's amazing your mother has kept Paul Anka alive so long."

"Okay, fine so we're not getting a cat," Rory told him, continuing to knit the piece in her hands.

"I knew that. So, clearly you got all this yarn for knitting, but why?" he asked, "Planning to turn into a society wife now that we're engaged; staying home, playing house, and knitting booties?"

"Funny, no. I'm not knitting anything really," she told him, "I'm knitting just to knit."

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, for one it's actually pretty relaxing," she said, "And two, I'm in training."

"Training?"

"Yes, for the Stars Hollow Knit-a-thon."

"The Stars Hollow Knit-a-thon, of course. How could I have forgotten such an important event."

"Oh hush. It's a big deal."

"It's a knit-a-thon."

"It may not sound exciting, but it's something I can do and it's for a good cause."

"What, does that old bridge need fixing again?" he asked, "The town makes repairs to that thing every year it seems."

"Well, this time Taylor has wised up and is having the bridge completely rebuilt," Rory said.

"Wow and you're cool with that?" Tristan asked, "I know that bridge holds a lot of memories for you."

"It does. There are a lot of good memories, but they'll never go away. A new bridge isn't going to change that," Rory told him, "And now hopefully, the rebuilt bridge will be a place where the next generation of kids from Stars Hollow can go to create their own memories."

"Yeah, maybe it will be the place Sophie sneaks off to when she's older," Tristan said.

"She's a long way away from that, not that she'd be able to sneak out with Luke as a father," Rory said.

"True, and with this new bridge, maybe you and I can make some memories of our own," Tristan said, whispering into her ear as he brushed his lips across her cheek, "So when is this big knit-a-thon?"

"Saturday," she told him.

"And how does the money raising part of it work?" he asked, "Do people just give whatever they want?"

"You can, but we're asking people to pledge us by the skein," Rory said.

"Then put me down for five hundred," Tristan said.

"Total?" Rory asked.

"Five hundred a skein," Tristan said.

"That's way too much, Tris," Rory said.

"All for the good of Stars Hollow," Tristan said, kissing her cheek again, "I'll leave you to it and get dinner started."

"Thanks," Rory said.

* * *

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone," Rory said, walking into the living room at the Hayden's with Tristan. During the prom Tristan set up for Rory, Logan had spoken with them as well as Riley and Stephanie about coming to London over Christmas so they decided to have a big family Thanksgiving since Rory and Riley would be gone for Christmas.

"Happy Thanksgiving, dear," Francine said, getting up from her seat to give her granddaughter a hug, "Now, let me get another look at that ring."

"You just saw it on Sunday when we were here for brunch, Grandma," Rory said, holding her hand out anyway.

"I know. I just can't get over how exciting is, my granddaughter is getting married," Francine said.

"Our granddaughter, Francine," Emily said, joining them to fawn over Rory's ring as well, "And I agree with you. I can't get over how amazing this is and how gorgeous this ring is. You did well, Rory. It's very important to find a man who can pick out your jewelry and pick well he did."

"Thank you, Mrs. Gilmore. I'm glad you approve," Tristan said, taking Rory's hand in his, "Shall we?"

"Yes, let's go say hello to everyone else," Rory said, following him as he led her away from her grandmother's still talking about her ring and the impending wedding of Rory and Tristan.

"Really, Emily. They've been engaged for five minutes," Richard said, "Let them enjoy it before you start planning some big over the top wedding."

"Yes, Francine, just leave the kids alone," Straub said. Like Richard, he had been hearing from his wife ideas she had in mind that she deemed fit for her oldest granddaughter's wedding, "When they want to start planning their wedding, they will let us know."

"There's no harm in pre-planning, Straub," Francine said, "If we have things in motion then it will be easier when they set a date."

"Which won't be until after we graduate and have settled where we're going to work and live," Rory reminded her grandmother's, "I appreciate the excitement and when the time comes I will welcome any ideas you both have to offer, but for now can just enjoy Thanksgiving."

"Of course, dear," Emily said, "We'll table this topic for another time."

"So, kids when do you head off to London?" Richard asked as they all sat in the living room, waiting for dinner to be ready.

"After Sophie's birthday and we'll be back just after the first of the year," Riley told him.

"Good. You'll have time then to adjust to any jet lag before your final semester, then," Richard said.

"Yes. Have to be prepared for that first class back," Riley said, earning himself a laugh from Richard and Rory.

"Yeah, that professor we've got for our first class can be tough," Rory said, winking at her grandfather.

* * *

After a day of Black Friday shopping, Rory and Lorelai sat together in the living room of the Twickham House practicing their knitting speed for the knit-a-thon the next day.

"How much longer before this madness ends?" Riley asked, coming down the stairs, walking towards the kitchen to grab a drink.

"One more day," Tristan told him, handing him a bottle of water from the refrigerator as he grabbed one for himself, "At least you're only having to deal with this today. Our entire apartment has looked like a yarn store threw up all over it since Monday."

"Man am I glad Steph didn't decide to get in on this," Riley said.

"What's worse is Rory finds it relaxing so there is a really good chance she'll continue with this new little hobby," Tristan said.

"I'm so glad we have our own apartments," Riley said, "I couldn't imagine if we were still in a dorm and she had this stuff everywhere."

"She'd have her own dorm, too," Tristan said.

"Yeah, like Paris would be cool with the Raggedy Ann wig store they've got going on in their," Riley said.

"True. Maybe I'll get her some boxes or something so she can store everything and keep it all organized," Tristan said.

* * *

"I've made a decision," April said, coming into the house that evening with Jay after their date.

"A decision about what?" Rory asked.

"I got my college acceptances a couple of weeks ago and after a lot research and discussion I have made my choice," April said.

"I chose my school as well," Jay said, "And we made these decisions alone."

"Yeah, I made my choice based on what I want and the school I felt best for me," April said.

"Okay so what school are you going to?" Luke asked.

"I've decided to go to NYU," April said.

"New York University," Luke stated, "That's great, April."

"Thanks, Dad," she said, accepting the hug he was offering.

"So, where are you attending school next year, Jay?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm going to Juilliard ," Jay said.

"What? Really?" Rory asked.

"How did that happen?" Riley asked.

"April," he said, "It was a bit of a pipe dream when I was younger and first started playing so I never really gave it a thought. Then this professor came up to me after a one of my shows at a coffee house."

"Seriously? A Juilliard professor was just there?" Rory asked.

"Not exactly," Jay said, looking at April.

"I emailed recordings of him playing to a dozen professors along with a few dates and places he would be performing," April said.

"You thudded him?" Tristan asked.

"She what?" Riley asked.

"Thudded him," Rory said, "Like Lucas did with Peyton's sketches."

"What?" Riley asked.

"Oh, come on, Riles, you know what they're talking about. We've watched that," Stephanie said, "Remember? You loved all the book quotes."

"Right, yeah. That basketball show with the brothers," Riley said.

"Anyway. One of them surprisingly showed up and loved the piece I performed that night. He asked if I had applied, which I hadn't," Jay said, "But I downloaded and sent the application in that night."

"That's amazing, Jay. We're so proud of you," Lorelai said, giving him a hug, "So you'll both be in New York next year."

"And the campuses are just a few miles apart so with what free time we have, we'll be close so we can see each other often," Jay said.

"This is great. There's a chance we could all end up in New York," Rory said.

* * *

Saturday while Rory and Lorelai sat in the square with Sookie, Babette, Miss Patty, and many other members of the town spending hours knitting, Stephanie spent the day photographing the town for a project for one of her classes. April and Jay volunteered to watch Sophie since Luke was working and Lorelai was knitting. Tristan and Riley took turns supplying Rory and Lorelai with coffee while also spending part of the day studying for their upcoming finals.

"This is actually really fun, a lot more fun than I thought it would be," Lorelai said, a few hours into the knit-a-thon.

"I know. When you first mentioned this to me it sounded ridiculous," Rory said, "I never imagined myself enjoying knitting, but I like it."

"Yeah and we're actually getting pretty good at it," Lorelai said, "Who knows maybe one day we'll actually be able to knit something useful instead of just knitting these endless runs for the sake of knitting."

"It would make a pretty good scarf," Rory said, lifting her piece up a bit.

"Yes, for the entire town by the time you're done with it with how long it's getting already," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, maybe when we're done I can split it into several scarfs," Rory said.

"Maybe," Lorelai said, "So, are you excited for your trip to London?"

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun when you and I went and the next year getting to experience it with Riley," Rory said.

"Now, you're going with your fiancee," Lorelai said.

"Yeah. And at Christmas. I hear it's really beautiful and romantic," Rory said, "I can't wait. I'm going to miss spending Christmas here with you, though."

"Hey, it's one Christmas. We'll survive," Lorelai told her, "Besides, we can celebrate when you get back. We'll have our own post-Christmas Christmas."

"I'd like that," Rory said, smiling at Lorelai before returning her focus back to her knitting, after all, they had a bridge to save.

* * *

 **AN:** Okay, I know it's been a little while since I updated. This story has been on my mind, though as I planned out my ideas for the rest of this story. My plan right now is to end it with thirty chapters, finishing with the Yale graduation and everyone moving on to their future plans. Right now, I have no plans for a fourth story as my initial plan was just to write an AU for Rory's college years. I may change my mind later and write another story or a perhaps a few one-shots featuring the future lives of Rory, Riley and everyone. Thanks for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: "What, you're Belle. So, of course you look like a princess,"

* * *

"How do I look?" Rory asked Tristan when she walked into the living room of the Twickham House the morning of Sophie's birthday party.

"Like a princess," he told her from his spot on the couch where he had been waiting for her to be ready.

"Tristan!" she said, giving him a look. She had on a big yellow, flowing dress. Her hair was pulled back so part of it was put up while the rest flowed down her back. She had even placed a few flowers in her hair.

"What, you're Belle. So, of course you look like a princess," Tristan told her, "What else was I supposed to say?"

Much to Luke's horror, Lorelai had decided on a Disney Princess theme for Sophie's first birthday party. To make it really fun for Sophie and so it would feel to her like the princesses were really there, Lorelai had asked Rory to dress up as Belle and Stephanie and April to dress up as Cinderella and Snow White. Lane had volunteered to dress as Princess Jasmine while Lindsey agreed to be Aurora when they heard of Lorelai's plan. Wanting someone to be Ariel, Stephanie asked her friend Rosemary from the Life and Death Brigade to come. And when Lorelai invited Jess and Olivia, Olivia was excited by the idea and said she would be Pocahontas and had a friend who wanted to be an actress who could be Mulan.

"Hmm, gorgeous, pretty, beautiful. Take your pick," Rory said, "I can buy you a thesaurus for Christmas to help you with more."

"You look incredible," Tristan said, getting up from the couch, placing his arms around her waist and holding her close to him, "Radiant, fantastic, magnificent. Name the synonym, that's how you look right now."

"Thank you," Rory said, laying a hand on his cheek, giving him a kiss.

* * *

Half an hour later all the Princesses and the rest of the party guests were in Miss Patty's waiting for the birthday girl to arrive. Christopher and Sherry had taken Sophie to play at the park with Gigi while everyone worked to get the party set up, arriving at Miss Patty's when Lorelai called to them they were ready.

"Hey, Sophie. Did you have fun with Uncle Chris and Aunt Sherry?" Lorelai asked her daughter when they arrived outside Miss Patty's.

"Play, Gi," Sophie said holding onto her mother when Lorelai picked her up after Christopher handed her over before they walked into the dance studio.

"You played with Gigi?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes," Sophie told her.

"That's great, sweets. Are you ready to have more fun?" Lorelai asked her as Luke came out of Miss Patty's, joining them outside so they could walk in together.

"Play," Sophie said again.

"Yes, we'll play. Come on," Lorelai said, moving Sophie so she was holding her with one arm so she was facing where she could see everything when they walked in.

"Happy birthday Sophie!" the guests cheered when Lorelai and Luke walked in with Sophie.

"Woah," Sophie said, hiding her face in Lorelai's shoulder.

"It's okay, Soph," Lorelai said, running her hand over Sophie's hair, calming the slightly scared child, "Look who's here."

"Belle!" Sophie said, lifting her head and turning towards Rory who had approached them to be the first Princess to greet Sophie.

"Happy birthday Sophie. Are you ready to be a princess, today?" Rory asked her.

"Yay!" Sophie yelled, clapping her hands when Rory placed a small crown on her head and held her arms out to hold her.

"Come and see all my friends who wanted to join us to celebrate your birthday," Rory told her, holding Sophie close to her as they walked through the party guests, stopping so Sophie could be greeted by each princess.

* * *

"Sophie's having a good time," Riley said, sitting down next to Rory when she took a break from entertaining Sophie and the other kids at the party to grab some of the food Sookie made.

"Yeah, this was a great idea Mom had," Rory said, "It's actually pretty fun pretending to be a princess."

"You're a princess everyday, Mary," Tristan said, joining them with his own plate of food, "Mmm, this macaroni is delicious."

"It's a Sookie specialty," Rory said, taking a bite of her own, "I've never had any macaroni and cheese as good as Sookie's."

"Have you tried the cookies?" Riley asked. In addition to the cake with all the princesses on it, Sookie had also made cupcakes with a different princess on each and sugar cookies in the shape of a tiara.

"I've had three and two cupcakes," Rory told him.

"Bless your Gilmore metabolism," Stephanie said when she joined them, taking a cookie from Riley's plate, breaking off a part of it, "What I wouldn't give to be able to eat like you and Lorelai."

"It will catch up to them one day," Riley said.

"Probably, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can," Rory said, taking a bite of Tristan's macaroni and cheese, having now finished hers.

"You guys have everything packed to leave tomorrow?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, everything is packed and ready to go by the door," Riley said.

"Ours too," Tristan said, "And I called Frank already to confirm the time he's coming tomorrow to pick us up."

"Ugh, he's picking us up at seven...in the morning," Rory said, "Why does it have to be so early?"

"Because that's the time we arranged since the Huntzberger plane is set to leave at nine," Riley reminded her.

"And we're leaving that early because?" Stephanie asked.

"It's a nine hour flight so we'll be getting in around six our time and since it's a six hour time difference it will be midnight in London," Tristan said, "Getting up that early and the travel, we'll all be pretty tired so hopefully we won't have to deal with any jet lag when we arrive."

"I guess that makes sense," Rory said, "I still don't like getting up so early."

"I'll let you sleep a bit on the plane," Tristan told her.

"But you can't sleep too much so you'll be able to sleep when we get to London," Riley said.

"Sure. As long as I get to go back to sleep after being woken up so ridiculously early, I'm good," Rory said.

"Hey, Sophie's getting tired so we're going to get her presents opened," Lorelai said coming up to them, "Can you guys give us a hand?"

"Sure, Mom. No problem," Riley said, grabbing his empty plate, plus Rory and Tristan's to throw away before joining them to help as Sophie opened her birthday presents.

* * *

Among the multitude of presents Sophie had received from all the family and friends in attendance were outfits and pajamas featuring the princesses and other Disney characters, toys, and dresses in various sizes so she could dress up as the princesses. She already had one Belle outfit as she had dressed up as Belle for Halloween, but now she had clothes to last with her as she grew throughout the year. From Jess as well as both Rory and Riley, Sophie had received storybooks starring the princesses. The present that drew the most attention from everyone in attendance, however, was the gift from Olivia. She had put her artistic skills to use painting a picture of the Disney princesses with Sophie in her own dress and tiara standing among them.

After the party, Rory and Riley said their goodbyes to their family before heading back to New Haven with Tristan and Stephanie so they could rest up before getting up early for their flight to London.

"Rise and shine, Mary," Tristan said, whispering into Rory's ear the following morning to wake her up, "I've got coffee, but you need to get out of bed to get it."

"Hmmpf. Do I have to get up?" Rory asked, rolling over and moving the blanket down off her body, but not opening her eyes.

"If you want to skip London and just stay here, sure go back to sleep," Tristan told her, waving the cup of coffee he got for under nose, pulling it away when she made a grab for it, setting on the dresser across the room.

"Your no fun," Rory grumbled, climbing out of bed and walking towards the dresser, taking a big gulp of the coffee before opening her eyes, "You're a God."

"It's just coffee," Tristan said, straightening out the blankets on their bed.

"You went out and got me an R-squared special," Rory said, "It's six in the morning and campus isn't even open right now. There's no coffee carts."

"I have my ways," Tristan said.

"I appreciate it, thank you," Rory said, giving him a kiss before going to the bathroom to take a quick shower to help wake her up.

Hours later they had landed in London and were being driven to their hotel by the driver Logan arranged for them.

"Where are we staying anyway?" Rory asked, "Did Logan ever say?"

"No, he told me he wanted it to be a surprise, but said the hotel was perfect for us," Tristan said.

"You have got to be kidding me," Rory said, when the car came to a stop outside their destination and she glanced out the window to see where they were.

"Oh, that's just great," Riley said, laughing when he got a look at the sign.

"Great? It's ridiculous," Rory said, giving him a stern look, "Of all the hotels in London, Logan booked this one for us to stay in.

"Come on, Mare, you have to admit it's a little funny," Tristan said as they got out of the car, following the doormen carrying their luggage into The Ace Hotel.

* * *

After breakfast their first morning in London, they met up with Logan at his apartment so he could give them a tour of his office before he had to begin working for the day. He had a couple more days of work before he was free to join them on their vacation. Their first stop after leaving Logan was Hatchards. Rory had been there both during her backpacking trip with Lorelai and the following year during her trip with Riley and their grandparents, but as it was the oldest bookstore in London, Rory insisted she had to visit it again.

Three hours later, Rory and Riley had only made it through two of the five floors in Hatchards. Tristan and Stephanie were bored and hungry so they left the two to continue their search through the bookstore and went down the street to The Wolseley for lunch.

"This is so beautiful," Rory said, holding Tristan's hand as they walked down Bond Street, enjoying the lights.

"I love how all the shops are decorated, too," Tristan said as they passed by Burberry and Hermès, "I also love that you're enjoying just looking in all the shops."

"How many bags do you think Steph is up to now?" Rory asked as they watched Stephanie drag Riley into Chanel.

"I lost count five stores ago," Tristan said, "I'm glad we thought to keep the driver with us so Riley didn't have to carry all the bags."

"Yeah, the was smart," Rory said, stopping in front of store that interested her, "Oh, can we go in here?"

"BVLGARI?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, I tested a sample of a few of their perfumes once when Steph and I went to the store in New York, but I didn't buy anything," Rory told him, "It's really good."

"Well, let's check it out and get you a bottle," Tristan said, giving her hand a squeeze as he led her into the store.

After BVLGARI, Rory and Tristan stopped at Tiffany's where Tristan had her pick out another charm for her bracelet. He already had a couple to give her for Christmas, but wanted her to pick one out herself.

"I like your choice," Tristan said, attaching the double decker, Tiffany blue bus to her bracelet.

"Thanks. I figured, when in London," Rory said, looking at all the charms on her bracelet. Her favorite was the one he added the morning after their engagement, a rose he had specially made so the petals were different colors.

* * *

Throughout the next couple of days they spent time at a few more bookstores, did a little more shopping so they could bring things home for their other friends and family. They also went ice skating at the rink in Canary Warf. Christmas Eve they drove to Paris to spend a couple of nights so they could celebrate Christmas with a walk through the City of Lights. Christmas morning they went for a walk by the Eiffel Tower and Tristan added the two charms he had chosen to give Rory for Christmas to her bracelet.

"The Eiffel Tower and a snowflake," Rory said, looking up as snow started to fall, "You couldn't have planned that any better. I love them."

"You're welcome," Tristan said, kissing her before wrapping her in his arms around her to keep her warm.

"Let me see the charms he added," Stephanie said, stepping away from Riley after he finished clasping the white gold and diamond snowflake necklace he got her around her neck, "Aww, we both got snowflakes."

"That's gorgeous, Steph," Rory said, picking up the snowflake, running her fingers over the stones, "Good choice, Ry."

"Thanks, Baby Girl," Riley said.

* * *

New Year's Eve after having dinner with Logan and the girl he was seeing from work, Bobbi they all went to the London Eye to ring in the new year with a ride overlooking the city and a fireworks display.

"I can't believe we have to go home tomorrow," Rory said, walking around their hotel, gathering up items to throw in her suitcase.

"I know. These two weeks went by real fast," Riley said, grabbing a couple of his own items to put into his suitcases.

"Hey, you've got that present we got for Jamie, right?" Rory asked, looking through the souvenirs she was taking back that were in her suitcase.

With Jamie Forester being a New Year's baby Dean and Lindsay decided to wait to have a big party for him, but since they were not in Stars Hollow to see Jamie on his actual birthday, Rory wanted to get him something a little extra special by bringing him something back from London. They found a few shirts they liked from a store called Oh Baby that said things like "I Rock" and had a picture of a guitar and another that said "New Kid on the Block." Rory wasn't into it, but she knew Lindsay was a fan of the boyband. They also found a few toys for both Jamie and Sophie.

"Yeah, I've got it in my carry-on bag so it doesn't get mixed up with anything else in case you wanted to take it there right away instead of waiting for the party on Saturday," Riley told her.

"Good thinking. Though, I'll probably wait until the party. Give him his gift with everyone else," Rory said, placing her last item in her bag, before taking a seat on the couch next to Riley, yawning as she laid her head on his shoulder, "This had been a great trip."

"I agree. I'm glad Logan suggested it. It was a lot of fun," Riley said.

"Yeah, and it was nice to get away for a bit before our crazy last semester," Rory said, "Besides, who knows when we'll be able to take a trip together like this again. It would next to impossible if we end up working on opposite ends of the country."

"True, but we'll make it work, Ror, no matter what," Riley told her, "We'll always find time for each other."

* * *

 **AN:** While not the fanciest place for them to stay in, The Ace Hotel is a real hotel in London. When looking up places for them to go in London I saw that hotel and couldn't resist using it. Enjoy! Happy reading!


	23. Chapter 23

**AN:** Just a heads up, this one does end on a cliffhanger, but the episode this one is partially mirrored after had a cliffhanger as well. Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 23: "We were up late talking so get your mind out of the gutter,"

* * *

A few days after arriving back from London, everyone was gathered in Stars Hollow for another first birthday party, this time for Dean and Lindsay's son, Jamie. The day after the party they were back in New Haven preparing for the first day of their final semester before graduating in a few months.

"I can't believe we have to go back to school tomorrow," Tristan said, joining Rory in the living room where she was reading through a syllabus she had printed off.

"I know, break did not seem long enough this time," Rory said, looking up from the page, "It went by really fast."

"Too fast," Tristan said, glancing over at the page she was reading, "Is that for Richard's class?"

"Yeah, he has some interesting things planned," Rory told him, "I'm liking the reading list."

"What's the rest of this?" Tristan asked, looking at the piles of papers on their coffee table.

"More syllabi, some notes for possible stories. I'm not editor anymore, but I'm still doing a bit of writing," Rory said, "And my Reston application."

"Really? You never mentioned you had that," Tristan said.

"I'm scared to open it," Rory told him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Once I open that envelope, it's real, I have to fill it out and send it in. There have been very few things in my life that I really and truly, desperately wanted and the Reston is at the top of that," Rory told him, "I don't know what I'll do if I don't get it."

"While it won't be the same, but if you don't get the Reston, you'll just have to work at one of the thousand other papers I'm sure will be begging to have you write for them," Tristan said.

"You have so much faith in me," Rory said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"It's part of the deal of being in love with you," he said, "I'm here to pick you up when you fall, believe in you when you don't believe in yourself, and love you no matter what."

"I think you just wrote your vows," Rory giggled, pressing her lips to his as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Maybe. Do you want us to write our own vows?" Tristan asked.

"I don't know. I haven't thought too much about it, but I like the idea of using our own words, something unique to us," she told him

"I like that idea. There's nothing wrong with traditional vows. They've worked for millions of people for centuries, but I like the idea of writing our own, choosing my own perfect words for you," Tristan said.

"Yeah, though I'm not sure the perfect words exist, I would definitely like to try and find them," Rory said.

* * *

"Oh, bless you, I needed this," Rory said to Riley when he walked into her apartment Monday morning, handing her a cup of coffee, "Mmm, so good. Tris and I were up late last night so I didn't get much sleep. He however, is still sleeping since he doesn't have an eight AM class."

"I don't need to know that," Riley said, following her into the kitchen where she had her bag and the few books she would need for the day set out on the table along with a couple of novels she was trying to decide between before putting everything in her bag.

"We were up late talking so get your mind out of the gutter," Rory said.

"Talking about what?" Riley asked, holding up a book, "Can I take this one? I've been meaning to buy it."

"Sure," Rory said, "You know the Reston application came while we were gone."

"I'm aware. Mine is sitting on my desk in our apartment?" Riley said, "What about it?"

"We were talking about where we might want to live in New York if I get it or where we may want to go if I don't," Rory said, "Mitchum has always said we'd have our pick up papers if we asked so I have that as an option."

"That's true, but do you really want to work for your future uncle?" Riley asked, "And besides, Logan's miserable. We saw that in London."

"Yeah, but is he miserable because he's stuck in London while everyone else he knows is here or is it just because working for and doing what Mitchum demanded is miserable," Rory said.

"I don't know. A combination of both, I think," Riley said.

"Maybe. We were also talking about wedding things," Rory said, closing her bag and throwing it over her shoulder so they could leave the apartment.

"Like what?" he asked, grabbing his own bag from where he set it down in the living room and following her out the door.

"Well, we decided we want to write our own vows," Rory told him, "And we want the wedding to be outside somewhere in the fall; definitely fall for sure."

"Fall when?" Riley asked, holding the car door open for her when they got downstairs.

"October or early November, maybe," Rory said.

"Why fall?" Riley asked.

"Remember last year when Tristan and I went to Asheville," Rory said, receiving a nod from Riley as she looked at him, "Well, even though it was February it was still gorgeous. I've looked at pictures and Tristan told me you guys went there a lot, telling me how amazing it is and how it's incredibly beautiful in the fall. Plus, fall in Stars Hollow is great. I love all the colors of fall. I just think wherever we get married, as long as it's in the fall it will be breathtaking with a backdrop of fall colors."

"You know could get married in Asheville if you wanted. Biltmore is incredible," Riley said, "You guys went there, right?"

"Briefly. We were only there for the weekend so we didn't spend a lot of time there," Rory said, "The gardens are beautiful from what I've seen online and the bit of time we spent there."

"So why not get married there then?" Riley asked.

"I'm sure it's booked up like years in advance," Rory said.

"Have you met our grandparents?" he asked, "If you asked they could make it happen so you could get married this fall if you wanted."

"Seven months away, that's quick," Rory said.

"Or you could wait until next fall or the one after that," Riley said, "You know the when and where doesn't matter as much the who."

"Right."

* * *

Throughout their first week of classes, everyone was quickly busy with reading and assignments from their professors encouraging them to do their best their last semester before graduating and moving on to careers or graduate school.

"Ugh, Paris Gellar is a crazy person," Rory said, throwing her bag on the floor as she walked into her apartment, laying down on the couch next to Tristan, setting her feet in his lap.

"You've known her for over six years and you're just learning that?" Tristan asked with a laugh, taking her shoes off her feet to massage them.

"No, but she's being extra crazy now that we're in a final semester," Rory said, "She has charts, like a dozen of them with deadlines for scholarships for things I've never even heard of, meetings schedule with every member of the Yale faculty so she can push a recommendation out of them, and she asked me about my resumes. Not resume, but resumes, plural; apparently you need more than one."

"How many does Paris have?" Tristan asked.

"Like two dozen different versions. I want to be a journalist at the New York Times or some other major daily," Rory said, "I didn't think I needed more than one resume for that."

"I'd think not, but isn't Paris studying both medicine and law?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, so that makes sense to have more than one resume for if she's looking for jobs and schools in those areas, but I don't think she needs to twenty-some others," Rory said.

"It's Paris. Plus, she's spent the past four years studying both medicine and law as well as writing for the paper," Tristan said, "She has multiple interests and she is scarily good at all of them. She's probably doing the multiple resumes to be prepared. If she doesn't get one, she can always fall back on the other."

"That's true. I never thought of that," Rory said, "I guess in a way we're lucky. We've known what we wanted and didn't waver from it. It would be scary to have to choose between two things you're so passionate about. At least if I don't get the Reston, I'll just have to pick another paper. Assuming I get offered jobs at other papers."

"You will and you'll get the Reston, Mary, I'm sure of it," Tristan told her, pulling her up to give her a kiss, "They would be crazy not to give you a space."

"Yeah, but Ry deserves just as much as I do and what are the odds they would give us both a spot?" Rory asked.

"Those odds are pretty small, but it could happen," he said, "You're both very deserving and you've worked your asses off the past four years."

"Thank you. I really hope at least one of us gets it," Rory said

"Me, too," Tristan said.

* * *

Their second week back Rory and Riley stopped off for a cup of coffee before going to Richard's class, getting one for him as well. Handing it to him as she walked in the door, Rory joined Riley in their seats in the front row ready to hear their grandfather begin his lecture. The previous week he had gone over the syllabus and assigned a bit of reading and was going to discuss the topic of their first power in the day's lecture.

"Now, when it comes to papers, I'm guessing that some of you, of course, will be asking me for an extension. You will be happy to learn that I have no problem with extensions," Richard said, gaining light laughter from the class, "Now, here's what you do. You look at the due date of the paper, and then you mark it on your calendar two weeks prior to that date. And there you have it. I've just granted you a two-week extension."

"By the way, I don't recall if I mentioned it last week, but my office hours are every Tuesday morning, and you're welcome to come to me with any questions or problems, economic or non. My expertise extends beyond Keynesian theory, and I will be happy to lend an ear," he said, "So, let's get started. As you know, this course…"

"He's he alright?" Rory whispered to Riley, noticing the pause in Richard's speech and the reddening of his face.

"I don't…" Riley began, closing his book and looking at his grandfather.

"Will take a specific look at... processes and determinants... of overall economic…" Richard got out as he gasped for air, gripping the podium in front of him, the cup of coffee falling to the floor.

"Oh my God!" Riley exclaimed, jumping from his seat as Richard fell to the floor.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Rory yelled, rushing over to Riley where he had dropped to the floor next to Richard, checking his pulse and beginning CPR, "Ry?"

"He'll be okay, Baby Girl," Riley told her, glancing up at her tear-streaked face before returning his focus to saving their grandfather.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: "Well all in all, I think I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

* * *

"Take it outside," Luke said as Lorelai paused her feeding of Sophie to pick up her ringing phone.

"It's thirty degrees outside and I'm feeding Sophie," Lorelai told him.

"Rule still applies," he told her, taking a seat at her table, grabbing the spoon from her to finish feeding Sophie her mashed sweet potatoes.

"Well, it's still freezing out and I'm a rule breaker," Lorelai said, answering her phone as it continued to ring, "Hello?"

"Mom," Riley said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Riley are you alright?" Lorelai asked.

"I...I'm fine, but…" he began.

"Rory! Riley, is Rory okay?" she asked.

"She's fine, basically, but, oh, Mom it was," Riley said.

"Riley, sweets, you gotta tell me what's going on. Are you sure you and Rory are okay?" Lorelai asked.

"We're fine. We're not hurt or anything," Riley said, taking a deep breath, "Grandpa had a heart attack in class today."

"What!" Lorelai asked, dropping onto the chair next to Luke, who had stopped feeding Sophie when he noticed Lorelai's panic.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked, reaching out grab the phone as it slipped in her hand, "Hello?"

"Luke? Is Mom okay?" Riley asked.

"I think so. She might be in shock or something. What's going on?" Luke asked.

"Grandpa had a heart attack in class today," Riley said, "He's okay, he's alive. We're at the John Skinner Medical Center now. He's getting tests done."

"Is anyone else there with you and Rory?" Luke asked.

"No, we came with him in the ambulance and we called Tristan and Stephanie. They are going to the club to get Grandma," Riley said, "We tried her cell, but she didn't answer and the maid said she went to the club so they offered to go and get her."

"That's good. Have you called your Dad yet and the Hayden's?" Luke asked.

"Not yet. Rory's freaking out a bit, she's barely said a word since we left the classroom so I thought it would be best to get Mom here as soon as possible since I don't know when Tristan will get here," Riley said.

"Alright, we're on our way. We'll be there as soon as we can," Luke told him, "I'll call your Dad and your other grandparents. You focus on Rory. Get her to go down to the cafeteria or something to get some coffee."

"I'll try. See you soon, Luke," Riley said.

After hanging up Lorelai's phone, Luke immediately went into action telling Caesar to keep an eye on things and to lock up for him that night. He picked up Sophie from her high chair and grabbed a still in shock Lorelai by the hand, urging her towards the door.

"Luke, I…" Lorelai began, her tears falling now.

"I know. He's going to be okay," Luke said, wrapping his free hand around her waist, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head, "Let's get going."

After dropping Sophie off with Dean and Lindsay so she would be able to play with Jamie while they were all at the hospital, Luke called Christopher as well as the Hayden's before leaving a message at Chilton for April to call him, telling her she could go home and look after Sophie if she wanted or join them at the hospital.

* * *

"Riley?" Lorelai whispered, approaching them in the waiting room, staying quiet when she saw Rory asleep with her head against Riley's shoulder.

"Hey. I'd get up, but I don't want to wake her," Riley said, softly.

"That's fine. Has anyone been out to talk to you?" Lorelai asked, sitting across from him with Luke.

"Not yet. They stabilized him in the ambulance and they've been running tests on him since we got here," Riley said, "I talked to a nurse after I called you and she said it would probably be another hour and a doctor would come out and talk to us about the results once they know how severe the heart attack was and the damage done to the heart to see if surgery is needed."

"Did you talk to Grandma?" Lorelai asked.

"No. Steph called though to let me know her and Tristan are on their way here with her," Riley said.

"Good. So, how is she holding up?" Lorelai asked, watching her sleeping daughter.

"Not sure. She refused to go get coffee or anything to eat," Riley said, "When I was calling you guys and talking to the nurse, she was just sitting here, staring at the wall until I joined her and she silently cried herself to sleep. I've never seen her this scared before, Mom and I can't reach her. She won't talk to me."

"It was hard for her the last time my Dad was in the hospital. It thankfully wasn't a heart attack that time, but it got to her," Lorelai said, "I had kept Rory away from them for so long that she was just finally getting to know him at that point, like you are now."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. I would feel the same if it were reversed," Riley said, "If something happened to Grandma or Grandpa Hayden, I would be heartbroken, I would also feel sad for her that she didn't have the time with them that I did."

"Yeah, plus you've taken on the role of the strong one," Lorelai said, "So, Rory knows she doesn't have to be. Her big brother has that covered."

"Well, I'll be grateful when Tristan gets here and can be the strong one for her," Riley said, "I'm having a hard time not losing it."

"That's exactly what you have us for," Luke said, getting up from his place next to Lorelai to sit by Riley and Rory, gently moving Rory from Riley's shoulder to his, "Why don't you go for a walk and get some air. I'm good here."

"Thanks, Luke," Riley said, "Mom? Do you want to go get some coffee or something?"

"I'm…I…," Lorelai began.

"Go. Have some coffee and bring back some for Rory and everyone else," Luke said, "I'll call you if anyone comes out to tell us anything."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked him.

"Positive, now go," Luke said.

* * *

Ten minutes after Riley and Lorelai left, Rory began to stir against Luke's shoulder.

"Luke?" she questioned, opening her eyes, finding herself resting against a flannel covered shoulder instead of the blue sweater covered one of her brother, "What's going on? Where's Mom and Riley?"

"I told Riley to go get some air so he and your Mom went to get coffee to bring back for everyone."

"And you stayed with me?" Rory asked, sitting up, "You hate hospitals."

"True, but I love you more than I hate hospitals," he told her, "That's going to win out every time."

"Thank you," Rory said, laying her head back on his shoulder, "I'm glad you're here, Luke."

"I'll always be here," he told her, raising her head a bit from his shoulder to place his arm around her, "I love you, kid."

"I love you, too, Luke," Rory said.

"Rory?" Tristan said as he walked into the waiting room with Emily and Stephanie.

"Tristan!" Rory exclaimed, getting up from the couch she was sitting on, rushing towards him, holding him tight to her as he hugged her.

"What do we know?" Emily asked Luke when she came into the waiting room.

"He's getting some tests done and the doctor will be out to give us the results when they're done. A nurse told Riley it would be about an hour," Luke said, looking at his watch, "It's been nearly that now so I expect someone to be out soon."

"Have you seen him?" Emily asked.

"Not since he was in the emergency room," Rory told her, now sitting with her head on Tristan's shoulder with his arm wrapped around her, "We're supposed to wait until the doctor comes and talks to us."

"Nonsense," Emily said, rushing off towards the nurses station to get information on Richard.

"Hey, you're here," Riley said, setting a tray of coffee down and giving Stephanie a hug.

"Where's Mom?" Lorelai asked.

"Harassing the nurses," Rory said.

"Of course," Lorelai said, taking a seat next to Luke and grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Mom," Riley said, getting her attention when he recognized a doctor they had seen in the emergency room coming towards them.

"Family of Richard Gilmore," he said.

"Yes, that's us," Lorelai said, "I'm his daughter, Lorelai."

"Hello, I'm Doctor Goldstein," he said, shaking her hand.

"Grandma, this is Doctor Goldstein," Rory told her, when Emily walked back over to them.

"I'm Emily Gilmore. Are you the doctor seeing to my husband?" she asked.

"Yes, we just finished running our tests and Richard has a severe blockage in two of his arteries," Doctor Goldstein said.

"And the course of action?" Emily asked.

"An emergency bypass surgery," Doctor Goldstein said.

"Open heart surgery?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes and we'd like to get him into surgery as soon as possible so if you'd like to visit with him beforehand, you are welcome to do that now," Doctor Goldstein said, "If you'll follow me, I'll show you to his room."

"Will you be the one performing the surgery?" Emily asked as they walked down the hall towards Richard's room.

"Me and a team, but I'll be the chief surgeon," Doctor Goldstein said.

"Where did you attend school?" Emily asked.

"Mom!" Lorelai said.

"What, I'd like to know these things," Emily said.

"No, it's okay. Yes, I got my B.A. at Princeton and I went to medical school at Yale I did my residency at Columbia Presbyterian before I became chief of cardio-thoracic surgery here," Doctor Goldstein said.

"See," Emily said, happy to hear that the doctor that would operating on her husband not only went to two ivy league schools, but went to the schools that both Richard and Straub had attended.

"Here we are. I'll let you visit," Doctor Goldstein said, "A nurse will be by shortly to begin prepping him for surgery."

"Thank you," Emily said, walking into the room, standing next to Richard's bed and kissing his cheek, "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Hey, Grandpa," Rory said, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

"Rory, Riley. I'm sorry if I gave you two a scare today," Richard said.

"Don't be silly," Rory said, "We're just glad you're okay."

"Yeah, how are you doing Dad?" Lorelai asked, "How are you feeling? You look okay."

"Well all in all, I think I'd rather be in Philadelphia," Richard said, earning a laugh from both Rory and Riley."

"Huh, Ronald Reagan," Rory said.

"Quoting, W.C. Fields," Riley said.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"He's right," Richard said.

"Huh, did not know that," Rory said.

* * *

A few hours later, Rory and Tristan had returned from their errand arranged by Emily of picking up things for her and Richard for their stay in the hospital and organizing the fish that had been delivered. Riley and Stephanie had also returned along with Luke after retrieving Richard's car from from Yale and Emily's from the club so she would have it if she needed it. Lorelai stayed with Emily to keep her company, being joined shortly after the others left by the Hayden's and Christopher. Just before Richard was brought back from surgery, April arrived with Jay, having come straight there from school.

"April," Luke said, when she walked in with Jay, "I told you, you didn't have to come."

"I know, but I wanted to be here," April said, giving him a hug before turning towards Emily to hug her as well, "He's my grandfather, too."

"I'm glad to have you here, April," Emily said, "Richard will be glad to see you, too."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," April said, before joining Jay on a couch with Riley and Stephanie.

"Mrs. Gilmore," Doctor Goldstein said, a few minutes later, joining them in the waiting room.

"Doctor Goldstein," Emily said.

"Richard is out of surgery. It went extremely well. His recovery won't be immediate. He still has several days here at the hospital, but we can go over more of that later," Doctor Goldstein said, "He's groggy now and tired. After he gets some rest, you can all visit with him, but for now, maybe just you, Mrs. Gilmore."

"Thank you, Doctor," Emily said.

"Tell Grandpa 'Hi' from all of us," Rory said.

"I'll see you all in a bit," Emily said, following the doctor towards Richard's room.

* * *

Later that evening after going out for dinner and bringing food back for Emily, everyone took turns going into Richard's room to visit with him. The Hayden's and Christopher went in first. After them, Lorelai and Luke went in with April and Jay. Last, before Emily returned, Rory and Riley went in with Tristan and Stephanie. As the night went on while everyone else went home, Rory and Riley stayed along with Emily. While Emily went with Doctor Goldstein to see the room Richard would be moved to the next day, Rory and Riley stayed in the room with Richard to keep him company.

"Okay, how about a little 'Maggie Blues' Grandpa?" Rory asked, setting up the record player.

"Ahh, I should have been a crooner," Richard said, humming along to the song.

"I also grabbed you some Gershwin, that Chuck Berry album I got you a few years ago for your birthday, and the Andrews Sisters," Rory said.

"She grabbed a few books for you as well, Grandpa," Riley said, "Some Sherlock Holmes and Milton Friedman."

"Oh, good, good," Richard said, "Thank you dear. Now, I think I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit."

"Sure. We'll be here when you wake up, Grandpa," Rory said, leaning forward to kiss his cheek, before moving back towards Riley resting her head on his shoulder, taking hold of his hand, "I'm really glad he's okay."

"Me, too, Baby Girl," Riley said, giving her hand a squeeze and kissing the top of her head, "Me, too."


	25. Chapter 25

**AN:** Okay, so this chapter has sat here unfinished for I don't know how long. I kept coming back to it and writing more for it. I knew what I wanted it to be, but just could not get it there. I'm not overly thrilled with this chapter, but I wanted to get out there. I'm hoping not to take as long for the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 25: "Not the flu, then,"

* * *

"You're doing good, Grandpa," Rory said, walking with him and Riley around the floor of the hospital a few days after his surgery.

"Yeah, I think you've shaved some time off your record," Riley said, "You're down to a forty-five minute mile now."

"That puts you just behind Mrs. Abalone," Rory told him.

"Well, that's an unfair comparison," Richard said, "Mrs. Abalone had her bypass a full two days before I did."

"No excuses, Grandpa," Riley said, "Time to dig a little deeper."

"Yeah, just picture Mrs. Abalone eating your dust," Rory said.

"This is by far the most absurd conversation I've ever heard," Emily said, joining them when she and Lorelai arrived from getting coffee.

"Come on, it's fun," Lorelai said, "It makes the walk interesting. You've got this, Dad. Beat, Mrs. Abalone."

"Lorelai, really," Emily said.

"It's fine. How's this?" Richard asked, increasing his pace.

"I would say we have ourselves a new slow-walk lead in the cardiac recovery ward," Rory said.

"Do you hear that?" Lorelai asked.

"What the crowd cheering," Riley said.

"Whoo," Lorelai said.

"Go Grandpa!" Rory said.

"Could you all stop. You're making a scene," Emily said.

"So, Mr. Gilmore, congratulations on your recent victory," Lorelai said, holding a pretend microphone out in front of him, "Any opinions on the allegations of steroid use among your fellow athletes?"

"Well, I consider myself proof positive that it can be done and done clean," Richard said.

"Richard, please, don't encourage this," Emily said.

"Well, excuse me for being a little stir crazy and wanting to have a little fun," Richard said.

"You'll be out of here soon enough," Emily said, taking hold of his arm as they continued his walk, walking slightly ahead of their grandchildren and Lorelai.

* * *

Arriving at Yale after leaving the hospital, Rory and Riley met up with Tristan and Stephanie at the pub.

"They're forcing you to come back to school," Tristan said, placing an arm around Rory when she sat next to him in their booth.

"Yep, Grandpa should be out soon and they all insisted Riley and I get back to school," Rory told him.

"You've only missed a couple of days, not too much to make up," Stephanie said.

"No, but we did help out a bit," Tristan said.

"Oh, how's that?" Riley asked.

"We have notes from the classes we share and I had Paris give me copies of notes from a class she shares with Rory," Tristan said.

"And we got all your books that hadn't purchased yet," Stephanie said.

"We didn't want you getting stuck with all the used copies with notes other's left behind," Tristan said.

"Thanks, Tris. Save us a trip to the bookstore, I appreciate that," Riley said.

"No problem. It also gave Steph a chance to flirt with Richard's temporary replacement," Tristan said.

"Oh, really. You're into the older professor's now?" Riley asked, laughing as he said it.

"They actually got a grad student to take over for now," Stephanie said, blushing as she looked away from Riley, "And I wasn't flirting. I just recommended a book to him. He was trying to make a decision between a couple different ones and I suggested an Isabel Allende one that I've seen Riley read."

"She is a good author," Rory said.

"You weren't flirting, but that didn't stop you from googling him after," Tristan said.

"I was curious about him. He's taking over for you future Grandfather-in-law. Aren't you interested in knowing more about him to be sure he'll do a good job?" Stephanie asked.

"Not really. Rory and Riley will see to that," Tristan said.

"So, chatting him up and googling him was purely interest in his abilities as an educator," Riley said.

"Well, okay maybe I found him attractive," Stephanie said.

"So my girl has a crush," Riley said, "Whatever will I do?"

"You're not mad?" Stephanie asked.

"Why? It's just a crush right? We've been together for two years, I know we're good," Riley said, kissing the side of her head, "I trust you. Nothing wrong with you finding another guy attractive."

"Really, so does that mean you find other girls attractive?" Stephanie asked.

"On occasion, yes, I've seen girls in passing here and there that I would consider attractive," Riley said, "But, I would never do anything about it because I love you and only want to be with you."

"That's good. I only want to be with you, too," Stephanie said, laying a hand on his cheek to kiss him, "I love you, Riles."

"I love you, too, Steph," Riley said.

* * *

"Ready for this?" Riley asked as he and Rory both stood in front of a mailbox, similar envelopes in hand.

"It's now or never, right?" Rory questioned, "Once we send these out, our future is out of our hands."

"Together?" Riley asked, taking her hand in his before tipping the envelopes holding their applications for the Reston Reporting Fellowship into the mailbox.

"And now we wait," Rory said, laying her head on Riley's shoulder when he wrapped an arm around her.

"Now, we wait," Riley said, kissing the top of her head.

"Good luck, Ry," Rory told him.

"You, too, Baby Girl," Riley said as they walked away from the mailbox back to his car.

After dropping off their Reston applications, Rory and Riley went back to her apartment to meet up with Tristan and Stephanie so they could head to Stars Hollow for the weekend. Richard was home and they were having their first Friday Night Dinner since his heart attack that evening.

"Your application is in. How do you feel?" Tristan asked as he and Rory drove to Stars Hollow, following behind Riley and Stephanie.

"Good. I'm still a little nervous about it, but I did my part. I know I'm a good journalist and a good editor," Rory said, "It's out of my hands now. It's up to them to see what I already know."

"And they will. You'll get this, Rory," Tristan said, taking hold of her hand to kiss her ring finger just below her engagement ring, "You deserve it."

Thirty minutes later, they had arrived in Stars Hollow, parking their cars and unloading their things at The Twickham House before walking through town to Luke's. While the other three went inside to say hello to Lorelai and Luke, Rory was kept outside when Lane saw her coming, running out at seeing her friend.

"Woah, Lane, where's the fire?" Rory asked as her friend dragged her towards the gazebo.

"No, fire, I just have to tell you something and I don't want the entire town to hear," Lane said, removing a small piece of paper, folded in half out of her pocket, "So we weren't planning this or anything. It was totally unexpected, but we're incredibly excited."

"Excited by...Oh Lane!" Rory exclaimed, engulfing her in a hug once she unfolded the paper and looked at the image of the twelve week sonogram, "Wait, there's two of them."

"Yep, we're having twins," Lane said, her smiling never leaving her face.

"I'm so happy for you, Lane. This is great. Congratulations," Rory said, "So does anyone else besides Zach know? I can't imagine my Mom keeping this from me."

"Just my Mom and Brian since he's Zach best friend and he lives with us," Lane said, "We only found out a few weeks ago. Remember that flu I had just before Christmas?"

"Not the flu, then," Rory said.

"Nope, it was these two," Lane said, "Anyway, I was waiting to tell everyone until I could tell you and I didn't want to do it over the phone. With your Grandfather and school and everything you've been really busy and I didn't want you to have to come home just for me."

"Oh, Lane. I would have come back in a heartbeat if you asked," Rory told her.

"I know that, but I know you had a lot on your plate so telling you could wait," Lane said.

"So, now that I know does that mean the town can know?" Rory asked.

"Why don't we just start with Lorelai and Luke and go from there," Lane suggested.

"Good idea," Rory said, grabbing her hand, "Let's go."

* * *

After showing the sonogram to Lorelai and Luke; Riley, Tristan, and Stephanie were curious to see what they were all so happy about. When Stephanie got a look at the sonogram, she let out a squeal that alerted Kirk to something being up. Within an hour, Miss Patty had been informed as well as the rest of the town. All were excited to hear about the newest VanGerbig's.

Not wanting to keep Richard from being overwhelmed with visitors, Rory, Riley, and Lorelai were outside the Gilmore's waiting for the maid to answer the door. Luke was at the diner while April was out with Jay and Tristan and Stephanie were at The Twickham House looking after Sophie.

"Hello, can I take your coats?" the new maid asked, a timid smile on her face, as they walked into the foyer of the Gilmore's.

"Thank you," Lorelai said, taking off her coat and handing it to her, "You're new. What's your name?"

"Aurora," she said, "Today's my first day."

"Well, welcome Aurora and good luck," Lorelai said.

"Mom!" Rory said, handing her coat to Aurora.

"What! She's entered the lion's den, it's best she be prepared," Lorelai said.

"Hello, everyone, good to see you all," Richard said as they walked into the living room.

"Hey, Grandpa. How are you feeling?" Rory asked, giving him a hug, "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I feel just fine, dear," Richard told her, "The doctor said it was perfectly fine to get back to my normal routine, as long as I abstain from anything to strenuous. Having dinner with all you is normal and it's what I want to do."

"Well, alright then. It's good to see you out of the hospital and back in everyday clothes," Riley said, shaking Richard's hand before being pulled into a brief hug.

After serving everyone a glass of club soda, abstaining from alcohol since Richard was not able to have any for awhile, the five of them talked about how things were going with Lorelai at the inn and at Yale with Rory and Riley. Richard asked their thoughts on the grad student who had taken over.

"He's pretty good, Grandpa. Knows his stuff," Rory told him.

"He's alright," Riley said, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

"You don't like him, Riley?" Richard asked.

"He just doesn't like that Stephanie has a crush on him," Rory said, "It's not a big deal, Ry. She told you that."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't help, but wonder what she liked about him enough to google him when I'm sitting there in class," Riley said.

"Nothing that matters more than how she feels about you," Rory told him.

* * *

After a dinner that, everyone found surprisingly delicious, even though it was prepared with Richard's dietary restrictions in mind, the five of them spent more time just talking in the living room; Rory and Riley sharing with Richard the latest books they were reading.

"So, that dinner didn't suck as much as I thought it would," Riley said when they arrived back in Stars Hollow.

"I know, with all the restrictions Dad is on and the fish kick mom has been on for awhile now, I was expecting to be starved after we left," Lorelai said, "But it was actually really good."

"Sookie recommended the chef. Did you really expect it to be that bad?" Rory asked.

"Well, I guess not. Sookie wouldn't recommend someone who didn't cook good food," Lorelai said.

"True, but 'good' good and 'yummy' good are two very different things," Riley said.

"I guess you've got me there," Rory said, "But at least Grandpa was happy with the food and that's what really matters."

"Right. It's most important that Dad likes the food. He'd drive Mom and extension all of us crazy if he was miserable in his recovery," Lorelai said, "So, have you two given any more thought to joining me for Mia's wedding?"

"I've thought about it and we could do it," Rory said.

"Yeah, it's during spring break so we wouldn't have too much school work to worry about," Riley said, "And I'm curious about her."

"Oh, definitely. Mia has been dying to meet you every since I told her about everything during one of our phone calls," Lorelai said.

"It could be a nice, sort of last family vacation," Rory said.

"It won't be the last, Baby Girl," Riley said, "We'll take loads more trips together, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, think of all the places you want to show Sophie when she's older," Lorelai said, "We still have lots to see and do together. Just because you're graduating and taking a job, who knows where, doesn't mean we won't still have our time together. It just may not happen as often as we've become used to."

"You're right. So, Mia's wedding," Rory said.

"We're going?" Riley asked her.

"We're going," Rory said.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: "I wouldn't change the way I grew up for anything,"

* * *

"How does this one look?" Rory asked coming out of the fitting room at the store she was at with Lorelai and Riley.

"It's a suit, Baby Girl. It looks exactly like the last three you've tried on," Riley said.

"It does not. This one is black, like the first one, but the last two were navy blue," Rory said, "And the second one had pants, this is a skirt."

"They all look the same to me," Riley said.

"Men," Rory said, turning to Lorelai who had just come back into the area with a few more pieces, "What do you think, Mom?"

"It's cute," Lorelai said, hanging up a few things before going in search of more.

"I agree," Riley said.

"I thought it looked the same as all the others?" Rory asked, "You didn't say the other's were cute."

"Rory, I just want you to pick one that you like," Riley said, getting up from the sofa he was on to look at the items Lorelai had brought with her for Rory to try on, "Remind me again why I'm here and not your fiancee or Steph. I'm sure they would be much more help here."

"Because. I thought it would be a good bonding moment," Rory said, watching to be sure Lorelai wasn't close by, "You see how much fun Mom is having helping with this?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. She's really in her element here looking for a suit for you for your interview," Riley said.

"You, too," Rory said, pointing towards Lorelai, seeing her come back towards them with items for Riley this time.

"I think you should try this one on kid. It's much cuter than that one. And I think the blue looks better." Lorelai said.

"I'm not sure cute is exactly the look I should be shooting for when going to interview for a newspaper," Rory said.

"Why not? It worked for Brenda Starr and Lois Lane," Lorelai said.

"So, when I'm interviewing for a newspaper job in a comic strip I know just the suit to get," Rory said, grabbing the new items from Lorelai and going back into the fitting room.

"Here, Riles, I found you a few things as well," Lorelai told him.

"I have suits, Mom," Riley told her, "One of which I'm wearing to Mia's wedding which will be fine for interviews as well."

"Maybe so, but you're trying them on anyway," Lorelai told him, handing him a few pants, shirts, and jackets as she pushed him towards the fitting room, "Now, get in there and come out in the one that screams New York Times."

"As nice as that would be Mom, we need our clothes to say more than just the New York Times," Rory said, coming out in a different suit.

"I like this one," Lorelai said.

"Me, too," Rory said, turning to get a better look at the navy blue suit with a knee length skirt.

"Yeah, while the Times may be our ultimate goal," Riley said, coming out in one of the suits Lorelai had picked out, "We're also hoping to hear from a few other papers that have our portfolios."

"Right, we're hoping to hear from the Seattle Times, The Detroit Free Press," Rory said.

"As well as the San Francisco Chronicle and The Chicago Tribune," Riley added.

"Well you can't expect one suit to say all that," Lorelai said, "Just find the suit that says something local."

"Uh huh," Rory said, rolling her eyes towards Riley at their mother's silliness.

"Yeah, you know those other cities are just so far away, so expensive and tiring," Lorelai said.

"Right," Riley said.

"And you know you can get a good cup of coffee in New York," Lorelai said, "I'm not so sure about those other cities. They have crappy, crappy, coffee."

"Oh, really, like Seattle," Riley questioned, sharing Rory's look of amusement. If they didn't get the jobs they wanted with the New York Times or another paper close by, it would hit their mother hard to be separated from them, especially if they both got jobs far away.

"Mom, you know we don't want to leave you either," Rory said, "We want to live in New York, but we have to accept that it just might not happen."

"Yeah, if we don't get the Reston, we may have to take jobs farther away than any of us would like," Riley said.

"A Mom can dream, right?" Lorelai asked as they both went back into their fitting rooms to try on something else, "Wow!"

"You like?" Rory asked, as she came out in another suit, followed by Riley.

"It's gorgeous, Baby Girl," Riley said.

"It's stunning," Lorelai said, "Both of you."

"Really?" Riley asked.

"I think we've found the one's, Ry," Rory said.

"You're going to knock the socks off of anyone at any newspaper you interview for," Lorelai said.

"Thanks, Mom," Riley said, kissing her cheek before going back to change into his own clothes.

"You really like it, Mom?" Rory asked.

"It's perfect," Lorelai told her.

* * *

"How did the shopping go?" Tristan asked when Rory came back, walking into the kitchen where he was preparing dinner.

"Good. I got a couple suits and a few nice shirts to go with them to change them up a it," Rory said, giving him a kiss, "Mom got Ry to get a new suit, too. Why are there three plates set out?"

"Well, I know I should have asked you first, but we're having a guest for a little while," Tristan said.

"Who…?" Rory began, stopping when they heard the front door.

"I've got the coffee, Tris. This should be enough to convince Ace to let me…" Logan said, coming into the kitchen, stopping when saw Rory was already home, "stay. Hey, Ace. I was hoping to beat you home."

"Clearly. What's going on?" she asked, taking the extra large R-Squared Special Logan had brought in with him, inhaling the aroma before taking a drink, "Last I checked New Haven wasn't London."

"Logan needs a place to stay for a little while," Tristan said.

"What happened to London or your apartment in the city?" Rory asked.

"Both belonged to my Dad. They were paid for by the company and I can't really stay in either when I'm no longer working for my Dad," Logan said.

"What? Why?" Rory asked, sitting down at the table as Tristan put the pasta he made on the table so they could eat while they talked.

"I had enough. I missed everyone here. I had to fight with him just to come back here when Tristan proposed," Logan said, "I was only supposed to be in London a year and then he was going to let me choose where I wanted to work."

"Right. I knew that," Rory said.

"Well, Mitchum changed his mind," Logan told her, "He got some deal on paper in New Zealand and told me a few days ago he wanted me to move there to run it."

"New Zealand? How long did he want you to go?" Rory asked.

"Indefinitely, apparently. He didn't give a time frame," Logan said, "I asked him what happened to me going where I wanted after my year in London."

"What did he say to that?" Rory asked.

"Things change and as the heir to the business I had to do what was best for business," Logan said.

"That's crazy. We hardly see or hear from you as it is with you being in London," Rory said, "If you went to New Zealand we could be married with kids by the time Mitchum let you move back."

"I'd hope he wouldn't keep you away that long and it's not like you couldn't afford to come back whenever you wanted," Tristan said.

"Not the point though. I don't want to go. I want to live here, either in the city or somewhere else in the States. I'm tired of living half a day ahead of everyone I know," Logan said.

"London's not quite half a day ahead of us, but I get your point," Rory said, "But what are you going to do now?"

"Not sure. I told him I was done, I didn't want anything from him, and I walked out," Logan said, "I have my car and what I was paid when I was in London went into an account in my name."

"What about your trust fund?" Rory asked.

"I don't want it. It's still mine, I guess. He took his name off after I graduated so it's fully mine, but I don't want his money," Logan said, "I want to do something on my own. I just don't know what that is yet. And until then or until I can find an apartment of my own, I was hoping you'd let me stay in your guest room."

"Finn and Colin don't have space for you? Or your harem?" Rory asked.

"Mary!" Tristan said.

"I'm joking, Tris," Rory told him, "You're family Logan. The guest room is yours as long as you need it. And though much appreciated and I won't say no to any further offerings, you didn't have to bribe me with coffee to let you stay here."

"Good to know," Logan said, "Thanks, Ace."

"Anytime. At least now, Tristan will have someone to keep him company when I'm gone next week," Rory said.

"You're not going away together for spring break?" Logan asked.

"No. Mia, the woman who owned the inn my Mom first worked at is getting married so we're taking a family trip for it," Rory said, "Mom and I haven't seen her in years and she wants to meet Riley and Sophie."

"Most of it. The wedding is this Saturday and since neither Riley or I have classes on Friday we're going to leave after our morning class Thursday," Rory told him, "Then we're going to stay in Charlotte a couple days after before coming back. We may stop in Virginia or something somewhere on the way back for a day."

"You're driving?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. We won't all fit in the jeep or Luke's truck so they are renting a small SUV for the week and we'll share the drive," Rory said.

"April's not going?" he asked.

"No, it's her spring break too so she's going to New Mexico to visit her Mom," she told him.

"Seems like it will be a nice trip for you guys," Logan said, "Don't worry, I'll keep Tristan company."

"Good and you keep him out of trouble," Rory said to Tristan, "No parties or parades of girls are to be coming into this apartment."

"There won't be. I promise," Logan told her, "My Dad wanted me to go to London so I'd learn a few things and grow up. Well, I have and I've learned I don't want his life. I want to make a name for myself on my own. I just don't know how I'm going to do that."

"You'll figure it out and we'll help you," Tristan said.

"Yeah. We're here for you, whatever you need," Rory said.

"Thanks guys," Logan said.

* * *

Early Thursday afternoon the car Luke and Lorelai rented was loaded up with their all the bags and suitcases they would need for their trip and they were on the road shortly before one. They weren't sure how Sophie would handle being in the car for an extended length of time so instead of completing the twelve hour journey all at once, they had booked a room in Richmond for the night so once they got up the next morning they only had a few more hours until they would be in Charlotte.

"This place is cute," Lorelai said, looking around River City Diner Friday morning after they walked in. Lorelai loved the look of the place, but it was also right next to the hotel they stayed in so it was perfect for them. They wanted to get an early start so they could have time to relax the rest of the day before the wedding on Saturday so after a quick breakfast they were heading out.

"It's just a diner," Luke said.

"It's not just a diner," Rory said, "It's really cool. It has that retro look. I love all the old signs and the booths are really cool looking."

"Yeah, and there's a motorcycle on the counter," Riley said, "How cool is that?"

"It's okay, I guess," Luke said, opening up the menu in front of him.

"I'm sure the food is nowhere near as good as yours though," Lorelai told him, easing the worry she could see on his face that they liked this diner better than his.

"Right. Nothing beats a Luke's burger and no one can make pancakes as good as you," Rory said.

"And I doubt even the entirety of Seattle or Brazil could best your coffee," Riley said.

"Oh yeah. Luke's coffee is the best, hands down," Lorelai said, "Though coffee in New York is pretty good, too."

"I'm sure if you look hard enough you can find good coffee anywhere," Luke said, "Or I could just send you some."

"I like that idea. Luke's coffee delivered. That needs to be a thing," Rory said, "Why weren't we doing that all along? Coffee at Yale is great, but Luke's is better."

After breakfast the five of them got back in the car and continued their journey to Charlotte, arriving a few hours later at the house they rented for the weekend. Since they would need multiple rooms anyway and Lorelai and Luke thought Sophie would be more comfortable in a house since she had more room to explore, they found a nice three bedroom rental house.

"How are things going back home?" Riley asked coming into Rory's room, joining her on her bed where she had just hung up from Tristan.

"Good. Colin and Finn came over so I'm a little worried what my apartment is going to look like when we get back," Rory told him.

"Didn't you tell them no parties?" Riley asked.

"Logan and Tristan, yes, but this is Colin and Finn," Rory reminded him, "They may think boobs and boos are what Logan needs to relax and whatever before he figures out his next step."

"I doubt that, Baby Girl," Riley said.

"Why's that?" Rory asked.

"Do you remember the first time we met them?" Riley asked, "They'll be too terrified by your reaction to throw any parties or bring a ton of girls over."

"That's very possible," Rory said.

* * *

Saturday morning they arrived early at Mia's house, dressed and ready for the ceremony for Mia and her fiance Howard. After greeting everyone, meeting Riley, and fawning over how adorable Sophie was, Mia whisked Lorelai and Rory upstairs with her to talk while she finished getting ready.

"You and Lucas, I can't get over it," Mia said when they entered her bedroom, "I always felt there could be something between the two of you. I wish I could have been able to come to your wedding."

"Thanks, Mia. I wish you could have been there, too, but your health comes first," Lorelai said, giving her a hug, telling her again that it was okay. She knew Mia wanted to be there, but a few days before the wedding Mia had fallen ill and ended up needing her appendix removed.

"You make such a beautiful bride, Mia," Rory told her, sitting down on the bed behind her vanity as Lorelai helped her finish up her hair and makeup.

"Thank you, my dear. You're going to make a lovely bride yourself," Mia told her, taking hold of Rory's left hand, "I can't believe my little Rory is engaged. And you're graduating soon. Where has the time gone?"

"It's certainly gone fast. Seems like just yesterday she was running through the inn, her nose in a book in the library and now she and Riley will be off and taking over the world," Lorelai said, "Or at least writing about it."

"That Riley, he's a handsome one," Mia said, "I wish you would have told me about him all those years ago. We could have found a way to make it work so you could see him."

"I'm sure we could have or Chris and I could have worked out something, but neither of us wanted our kids to bounce back and forth from home to home," Lorelai said, "The way we did it they got to grow up in more stable environments."

"She's right, Mia. As much as I still wonder and sort of wish I had Riley and Dad in my life all along, my childhood with Mom and with you at the inn was amazing," Rory said, "I wouldn't change the way I grew up for anything, not even the chance to know my Dad and brother. It all worked out in the end."

* * *

Following the ceremony, Mia and Howard held a small reception in their home. Lorelai entertained the small crowd with a poem she wrote, reminding both Rory and Mia of Rory's childhood once again. While Riley and Rory looked after Sophie, Lorelai managed to get Luke to dance to a few songs before they said their goodbyes and went back to their rental house. After a few more days in Charlotte, spending more time with Mia and visiting some of the surrounding cities, they headed back towards Connecticut, stopping in Philadelphia for a day, paying a visit to Jess and Olivia before returning home.

* * *

 **AN:** I've officially become the worst updater ever. The story is almost done and I am determined to finish it and to continue to write for my other stories. I will never abandon them, but I will try to update a lot sooner next time.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN:** Who's ready for a Hay Bale Maze? I've never actually been in one. I live down the street from an apple orchard that does corn and soy bean mazes, but never seen a hay bale maze!

* * *

Chapter 27: "My little girl has her first crush,"

* * *

"You again! I thought we were done with you," Paris said, walking into the Daily News office, finding a blonde that wasn't her friend's fiance seated at her desk, using her computer.

"Hello to you too, Paris," Logan said, "You're looking well."

"What are you doing here, Huntzberger? We could hardly get you into the office most days when you went here," Paris said.

"My computer is down at the moment and both Rory and Tristan needed theirs for class so Rory offered me her computer here," Logan told her.

"To do what? Browse videos of idiots doing stupid stunts to get ideas for the next gathering of your minions," Paris asked.

"No, actually I'm looking at jobs," Logan told her.

"Jobs? So it's true then. The Huntzberger prince really did stand up to the king," Paris said.

"That I did," Logan said, "And since I don't want to just rely on my trust fund forever, I'm looking at jobs so I can eventually move out of Rory and Tristan's guest room."

"That's a sound idea," Paris said, "Though I expect they'll be moving out soon though. Graduation is only a month away."

"They have their lease through the end of the summer," Logan said, "When they first moved in they considered ending the lease as soon as they graduated, but decided it would be a good idea to have a few extra months. It will give them time to sort out their job opportunities and find a place to live."

"Makes sense. Though I thought they were settled on New York," Paris said.

"That's primarily where all of Tristan's job offers have come from," Logan said, "Rory's waiting on the Reston. I'm sure she'll get it, but she's entertaining offers from other papers, too. She has an interview this week in Providence."

"The Pro Jo? Good paper. Excellent reputation. Good staff," Paris said.

"The very same," Logan told her.

"Well, wish her luck for me when you see her," Paris said, grabbing the items from her desk she came in for, leaving him to continue his job search, "See you around Huntzberger."

"Later, Gellar," Logan said.

* * *

"Dragonfly Inn. Lorelai speaking," Lorelai said answering the phone at the inn.

"Hey, it's me," Rory said as she took her seat on the train.

"Hey, kid. How did the interview go?" Lorelai asked.

"Great. The editor was really nice. She had great things to say about my articles at the Daily News and my work as editor," Rory told her, "It went really well. We just kept talking and could be myself with her so easily that impressing her became afterthought."

"But there you were impressing, anyway," Lorelai said, "So you're on your way back now?"

"Yeah, I just got on the train," Rory told her.

"Aww, look at my little girl. All grown up, riding the train after her first big interview," Lorelai said.

"I feel grown up," Rory said, "I'm in my suit. I have a newspaper and cup of coffee."

"Oh, my baby," Lorelai said, "So when should I expect you and Tristan for Spring Fling?"

"I've actually been meaning to talk to you about that," Rory said.

"You're still coming, right?" Lorelai asked, "You've been talking about experiencing Spring Fling with Sophie now that she's old enough to enjoy it for weeks now. And even more since Taylor's insane hay bale maze idea."

"We're still coming, but," Rory began.

"Yay!" Lorelai said, interrupting her, "I'm sorry. Did I just 'yay' over your 'but'?"

"Tristan and I are coming. His Friday morning class was cancelled so when I get out of mine we will be down and you'll have us for the weekend," Rory told her, "But I was wondering if you would mind if we brought someone along with us?"

"Not at all, Sweets. That's fine. There's plenty of room in the house, but who?" Lorelai asked, "Riley and Stephanie are already coming Friday night. Who else at Yale would be interested in coming to Stars Hollow for Spring Fling?"

"Well, I don't know that I would call him interested, but I was thinking about asking Logan if he wanted to come along," Rory said, "I think he could use a change of scenery for a couple of days. Take a break and get his mind off things."

"So still no job prospects then?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing. He's had a few people seem interested in some of his ideas and what he has to offer, but I think people are scared," Rory told her, "No one's ready to take that leap and hire the son of the great Mitchum Huntzberger."

"Well, if he's desperate, I hear the Gazette is hiring," Lorelai said.

"I don't think it's that bad, yet, but I'll keep it in mind," Rory told her, "Though he is considering options outside of just print and even away from east coast."

"But isn't that why he quit his job in the first place? He didn't want to be sent across the world, but he's okay with going across the country?" Lorelai asked.

"Not particularly, but he's considering it as an option," Rory told her, "He's been all over the country, both on his own and with Mitchum. He has contacts everywhere and while he's hoping to stay here, he said he'll move if he has to as long as can stay in the states and be able to see and talk to his friends and his sister whenever he wants."

"Getting one of those contacts to bite is not going to be easy. It's not easy stepping out on your own, away from the life you've always known," Lorelai said.

"No, but you did a good job making it look it," Rory said.

"I tried my best," Lorelai said.

"You did the best," Rory told her.

"Thanks, kid," Lorelai said.

"Anytime," Rory said.

* * *

Friday afternoon Rory and Tristan arrived in Stars Hollow, along with Logan, dropping their things off at the Twickham House before going to the diner to get coffee, giving Logan a tour of the things they saw along the way.

"Wow, you definitely did not exaggerate," Logan said as they walked through town, passing the gazebo and Miss Patty's on their way to the Dragonfly to see Lorelai.

"Stars Hollow needs no exaggeration, cuz," Tristan told him.

"This place is fascinating," Logan said, "It really is like stepping back into colonial Williamsburg."

"I told you," Tristan said, "Though with fewer knickers and Tricorn hats."

"And that's only because it's spring," Rory said.

"Really?" Logan asked.

"Oh, yeah. Every winter Taylor and the other town elders do this big reenactment of this time during the Revolutionary War where Stars Hollow apparently played this big role," Tristan said.

"Stars Hollow was a big part of us gaining our independence from the British?" Logan asked.

"Supposedly," Rory said, "Don't talk to Luke about though, it annoys him."

"I'll remember that," Logan said as they continued their walk, stopping by the bridge Rory spent a lot of time at growing up as Tristan explained to Logan about the town's history of standing in a row to help free the country.

* * *

"Hey Mom," Rory said, handing her a cup of coffee and kissing her cheek when they walked into the Dragonfly.

"Hey, Kid. Thanks," Lorelai said, accepting the coffee, taking a big drink of it, a slight moan escaping her lips as she did.

"Damn. I thought watching Ace drink her coffee was hot," Logan whispered to Tristan.

"Dude, that's my fiancee and future mother-in-law," Tristan said, "They're not yours to ogle."

"Fine. I'll just have to keep my ogling to myself," Logan said.

"You better. Luke will kick your ass if he catches you checking out his wife," Tristan told, "And it goes without saying if you hit on Rory."

"Yeah, I know. You'll beat the crap out of me," Logan said.

"If Riley doesn't beat me to it or Rory herself," Tristan told him.

"True. That girl of yours can be tough when she wants to be," Logan said.

"You got that right, Huntzberger," Rory said, tapping him on the back of the head, "Eyes back in your head. Stop checking out my mother so we can show you around the place."

"Lead the way," Logan said, gesturing towards them as they moved to walk towards the library.

"And through here is the kitchen," Rory said, walking through the dining room after the library.

"This where I get to finally meet the famous Sookie and try some of her wonderful food?" Logan asked.

"Maybe. We'll just have to see," Rory said, pushing the door open, "Sookie?"

"Hey, sweetie, you're here for Spring Fling?" Sookie asked as Rory walked into the kitchen, Tristan and Logan following behind her.

"Yep and I brought guests," she told her, "Tristan you know, of course. But, I'd like you to meet Tristan's cousin, Logan Huntzberger."

"It's an honor to meet you Chef St. James," Logan said, shaking her hand.

"Oh, so formal," Sookie said, tossing aside the towel that was in her hand to hug Rory and Tristan and to his surprise, Logan, "Just call me Sookie."

"Sookie it is, then," Logan said after she pulled away.

"Something smells amazing, Sookie," Rory said.

"Just trying out some new recipes for tomorrow," Sookie said, "I have some cookies that just came out if you're interested."

"Yes, please," Rory told her, giggling as she began to place some into a container, Tristan and Logan eyeing each one as she did.

"Those are mine, right? And you're going to get another container for Logan?" Tristan asked.

"No, you boys are going to be nice and share," Rory said, putting the lid on the container, "Let's go. We have a few more places to go before we pick up Sophie. I promised Mom we'd pick her up from Dean and Lindsay's."

* * *

"Gain, 'ogan, gain," Sophie squealed, giggling as Logan playfully tossed the sixteen month old in the air, tickling her tummy with his nose as he caught her.

"Looks like Jamie has some competition," Riley said as he and Steph walked into the house.

"Ry, Ry!" Sophie yelled, wiggling out of Logan's arms, running over to her brother.

"Or, maybe not," Riley laughed, picking Sophie up giving her a big hug as he planted kisses to each cheek, her nose, and forehead, "I missed you, Little One."

"Miss, Ry," Sophie said, wrapping her little arms around his neck, giving him a sloppy kiss on the lips before he put her down.

"Well, I guess she didn't miss me that much," Riley said, watching Sophie run right back to Logan once she was on the ground again to continue their game.

"She's been like this since we picked her up from Dean and Lindsay's," Rory told him, "From the moment he said hello to her she has wanted to be at his side."

"It's the Huntzberger charm," Logan said, "Trust me, if you hadn't been with Tristan when we met you wouldn't have been able to resist me either, Ace."

"In your dreams, 'Ogan," Rory said, the group laughing as she used Sophie's name for him.

"Hey, it's much better than Logie," Logan said, shaking his head at the nickname a few of the girls he had gone out with in the past called him.

"Gie," Sophie said, poking Logan's cheek with her finger to get his attention.

"Yes, Princess Sophie," Logan said.

"Gie, pway," Sophie said, wanting the conversation to stop and the playing to continue.

"I'm afraid the time to play is over sweet girl," Lorelai said, coming into the living room, "Bed time angel."

"Gie, bed," Sophie said, holding tight to Logan.

"You want Logan to put you to bed?" Lorelai asked her, receiving a nod from her daughter, "You mind?"

"Not at all, Lorelai. I'm happy to," Logan said.

"I'll give you a hand," Riley said, following after Logan and Sophie.

"Man, she already has that boy wrapped so tightly around her little fingers," Lorelai said, joining Rory and Tristan where they sat on the couch, "I can't imagine what it will be like when he has his own kids to spoil."

"He won't stand a chance," Rory said, "Especially if he has a little girl with eyes like Sophie. Those blue eyes sucked him in from the start."

"She does have those killer eyes like the rest of you," Tristan said, "I know they were part of you I noticed first."

"Part? What else did you notice first?" Rory asked.

"Lots of the things," Tristan told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her to sit in his lap, "Your left earlobe for one."

"Funny," she told him, "What else?"

"Your smile the first time we had a real conversation," he told her, "The way the sun hit your face just so when you pulled your hair back behind this ear as you sat reading waiting for your bus to take you home."

"You guys make me sick," Stephanie said, taking Rory and Tristan out of the little bubble they were in forgetting anyone else was in the room as they got lost in each other's gaze, "I can't even imagine what it will be like when you're married and in that actual newlywed faze."

"We won't even be able to stand being around them, I'm sure," Riley said, coming back into the living room, "Sophie insisted Logan read her a story and promptly told me 'out!'"

"My little girl has her first crush," Lorelai said, "It's adorable."

"What's adorable?" Luke asked, coming in now that the diner was closed down for the night.

"Sophie had her first crush," Lorelai told him.

"She's barely over a year old!" Luke said, "She's not old enough to like anybody. I knew it was a bad idea letting her around that Forrester kid."

"Hun, Jamie is still just a baby, too," Lorelai reminded him, "But, it's actually not Jamie."

"Who else could it be?" Luke asked.

"Well, she's out," Logan said, coming back into the living room, "She finally fell asleep my third time through the story."

"You!" Luke exclaimed.

"Luke, relax. So Sophie has a little crush on Logan. It's harmless fun," Lorelai said.

"She's my little girl, Lorelai," Luke reminded her.

"Yes, little. She's just a over a year old, like you said," Lorelai reminded him, "She'll probably forget all about this attachment she's built to Logan by the end of the weekend."

* * *

Saturday morning after getting coffee from Luke's the group went their separate ways as they all found things at the Spring Fling that interested them. Lorelai and Rory took off to grab food from all the carts, Riley and Tristan following behind to help carry. After helping with her hair, putting it up into a couple of pigtails, Sophie had attached herself to Stephanie, too and was now holding both her hand and Logan's as she walked through the square, her eyes wide as she took it all in.

"Are we ready for the maze yet?" April asked, joining her family with Jay after he arrived.

"I think I've had my fill of funnel cakes, salty nuts, and lemonade," Lorelai said, "At least for now. I'm ready for the maze."

"Me too. Let's do it," Rory said.

"Ready for the maze, Soph?" Logan asked her.

"Reaey 'ogan," Sophie said, holding her arms up for him to pick her up.

"Then let's go check out the maze," Logan said, picking her up, her arms wrapping around his neck as they walked towards the maze.

"Well, I guess she's done with me," Stephanie said, turning to Riley, "Looks like I'll have to enjoy the maze with you."

"I was hoping you would," Riley said, interlocking their fingers and kissing the back of her hand before walking with her towards the maze.

"Ready for the maze, Mary?" Tristan asked Rory.

"Yeah, let's go," Rory said, standing up from the bench she was sitting on, pausing as her phone rang.

"Who's calling you on a Saturday? Pretty much everyone you know is in that maze," Tristan said.

"It's the Pro Jo," Rory said, a nervous smile on her lips as she pressed the accept button, "Hello, Rory Gilmore speaking."

* * *

"Hey, Baby Girl," Riley said walking into the kitchen, seeing Rory sat at the table with notes and lists scattered everywhere, "What are you doing up?"

"I'm working on my pro/con list for the Pro Jo," Rory told him.

"Of course you are," he said, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator for himself and Rory before joining her at the table, "Only my sister would be up in the middle of the night contemplating a job offer she's had for twelve hours."

"Well, they need to know by Monday and I have a lot of things to factor in before I make a decision," Rory told him.

"Uh huh," Riley said.

"There are so many other papers with my resume," Rory reminded him.

"That's true," he said.

"And if I take this job, I'm saying no to all the other possibilities," she told him, "I need to factor that in."

"Okay," Riley said.

"Then there's the fact that print journalism could be dying and jobs like this could be few and far between," Rory said.

"Also a possibility," Riley said, "Though journalism isn't all print you know."

"I know, but print is what I want," Rory said, "So, should I take a print job because it's offered to me and it's what I want?"

"Well," Riley said.

"Or should I hold out for a better one?" Rory asked, "I really want the Reston and we haven't heard back from that yet. It's not like I can say yes to the Pro Jo now and then no later just because I got what I really wanted. I'd look like such a flake."

"I think…" Riley began.

"And there's Tristan to consider," Rory said, cutting him off, "Would he want to move to Providence? All his job offers have been in New York. It's the best place for him."

"Tristan can design homes, buildings, whatever he wants from anywhere," Riley reminded her, "Plus, that boy loves you. He'll go wherever you need him to be. If you decide to take this job at the Pro Jo, he'll be right there with you."

"He has to be, we're engaged," Rory said.

"You know that's the not the reason he'd go anywhere, do anything, for you," Riley told her.

"Yeah," Rory said.

"Look, whatever job you take, it doesn't matter where it is, the city or the paper you choose to write for," Riley said, "You'll do great anywhere, Baby Girl. I know it."

"Thanks, Ry," Rory said.

"You're welcome. Now, get this put away and get back to bed," Riley told her, "You can talk it over with Tristan tomorrow and make your decision."

"Yeah. Couldn't hurt to sleep on it, I guess," Rory said.

"No it wouldn't," Riley told her, wrapping her up in a hug, "I'm proud of you, Baby Girl. You've worked hard. The Pro Jo would be lucky to have you. Think it over and make the choice that's best for you."

"I love you, Big Brother," Rory said, laying her head on his shoulder as he hugged her, "You always know what to say."

"I love you, too, Baby Girl," he said, kissing the top of her head, "Let's get back up to bed before Stephanie and Tristan come looking for us."

* * *

Sunday morning after a breakfast feast made by Luke with help from Riley and April everyone went their separate ways. Lorelai and Luke each had to go to work and Jay and April both had homework to work on. Stephanie and Riley had to get back to Yale so Logan volunteered to watch Sophie for the day.

"How's that pro/con list coming?" Tristan asked as he sat down next to Rory on the bridge, the top of the pen she was using in her mouth as she looked through page after page of lists and notes.

"Okay. I'm just trying to factor in everything before I make my decision," Rory told him.

"And while you're considering air quality differences and coffee shop to population ratio are you also considering the most important thing?" Tristan asked, looking over the pages in front of her.

"What would that be?" Rory asked, setting the stack of papers down.

"What you want Rory Gilmore?" Tristan asked, "Look inside yourself. What do you really want? Where do you want to be? What's going to make you the happiest?"

"What I really want is the Reston. I want to live in New York and write for The Times," Rory told him, "I want to wake up to the sounds of the city and the smell of the cup of coffee that my gorgeous fiance brings me from the cafe down the street from our apartment."

"That's what you really want? You're positive on that?" Tristan asked her.

"Absolutely," Rory told him, "I'm going to say no to the Pro Jo."


	28. Chapter 28

**AN:** Happy Birthday, Gilmore! Seventeen years ago the first episode of Gilmore Girls aired on TV.

* * *

Chapter 28: "I'm not getting a minivan,"

* * *

"What did Gypsy say?" Rory asked, walking into her apartment, setting her bag down on the kitchen table.

"Doorknobs," Lorelai said.

"As in dead as?" Rory asked.

"I have to put her down," Lorelai told her.

"No!" Rory said, "She's so young."

"I know. Gypsy said it would be cheaper just to get a new one," Lorelai said, "She used the phrase 'total internal destruction'"

"Wow!" Rory said, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a seat in the living room.

"Yeah. Though I'm kind of proud. Total internal destruction. Sounds pretty bad ass," Lorelai told her.

"So, what now?" Rory asked.

"I guess I go car shopping," Lorelai said, "Though I have no idea what I want or what to even look for in a car."

"Well, you have this guy in your life, your husband," Rory reminded her, "Getting a new car together is a thing husbands and wives do together."

"Yeah, but Luke will want me to get something boring and sensible," Lorelai told her, "I want something cool like The Batmobile or The General Lee."

"Sensible is not necessarily a bad thing," Rory told her, "Sophie shares half her DNA with Luke so you may need that soccer mom minivan."

"Bite your tongue," Lorelai said, "That kid is all Gilmore. No child of mine would ever get involved with sports."

"You never know. Luke did a lot of sports in high school and so did Dean," Rory told her, "And with Sophie spending a lot of time with Jamie she could pick it up from him. If Dean and Lindsey get him into T-ball or something, Sophie may want to join just because he's doing it."

"Darn kids always wanting to be with their friends," Lorelai said, "I'm not getting a minivan, but I guess something sensible couldn't hurt. You never know where you and Riley will end up so I could use a good road trip car."

"Planning to visit that often?" Rory asked.

"At least once or twice," Lorelai said.

"A month?" Rory questioned.

"No, a week. We can't ever be apart that long," Lorelai said, with a laugh.

"You're kidding, right?" Rory asked, turning her head towards the front door as she heard a knock.

"Of course I am. I can't risk seeing you and your fiance in all manner of compromising positions when you're off on your own, away from the rest of us, no risk of anyone walking in on you," Lorelai told her.

"Pretty sure Tristan and I have more self control than that, but I would appreciate a heads up before you just drop by," Rory said, getting up to answer the door, "Just a second, Mom, someone's here."

"Is Tristan here?" Paris asked, rushing in the apartment with Doyle trailing behind her.

"Hello, to you too, Paris, please come in," Rory said.

"Paris is there?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," Rory said, closing the door and following Paris and Doyle into the living room, "I'll talk to you later after I see what she wants."

"Keep me posted," Lorelai said.

"I will. Bye, Mom," Rory said, ending the call, "What's the emergency, Paris?"

"Is Tristan here?" Paris asked again.

"No, he's not. What does Tristan being home have to do with you rushing into the apartment?" Rory asked.

"I got responses back," Paris told her, taking a stack of envelopes out of her bag.

"Responses, plural?" Rory asked, "From where?"

"Harvard medical school, Johns Hopkins school of medicine, Penn medical, Yale law school, Stanford law school, and Columbia medical," Paris told her, laying each envelope on the coffee table, "And before you comment on envelope thickness, keep in mind that so much stuff is online these days that thickness is no longer an accurate indicator."

"Right, so open them up so we can see what your future holds," Rory said.

"I can't do it without Tristan here," Paris said, "When will he be home?"

"Why does Tristan have to…" Rory began.

"Because I need everyone who's important in my life with me for this big moment," Paris told her.

"Aw, Paris," Rory said.

"Save the emotions until I get in somewhere," Paris said.

"Sure," Rory said, smiling before hugging her friend, "You're important to me, too, Paris."

"Geeze, I say one nice thing," Paris said, stepping away from her after the hug, looking towards the door when she heard a key in the lock, "Finally. Where have you been, DuGrey?"

"Dropping Logan off at the airport. What's going on?" Tristan asked, joining them in the living room, taking a seat on the couch next to Rory.

"Oh, yeah, he he's meeting with some people in San Francisco," Doyle said, "When is that?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Tristan told him.

"Wish him luck for me," Doyle said.

"I'll do that," Tristan said.

"Are you seriously just going to sit there making idle chitchat on the single most important day of my life?" Paris asked.

"Sorry, sweetie," Doyle said, "Paris has some news."

"What news?" Tristan asked.

"Not some news, the news," Paris said, pointing to the envelopes on the table in front of them.

"You haven't opened them yet?" Tristan asked.

"She was waiting for you," Rory told him, "She needed all the important people in her life with her when she found out her future."

"I appreciate that, Paris," Tristan said, "Now, who's first?"

"I don't know. Rory, you pick," Paris said, taking a letter opener out of her bag.

"What's that?" Rory asked, handing her an envelope.

"Yale Law," Paris said, "It's my lucky letter opener. I used it to open my acceptance letter to Yale four years ago. I'm not superstitious or anything, just a precaution. If it's lucky, it's lucky. If not, oh well, I need it to open letters anyway."

"Okay, open your first letter," Rory told her.

"I can't," Paris said, pausing as she began to open the letter, "You do it."

"Me?" Rory asked.

"Yes, you're lucky," Paris told her.

"I am?" Rory questioned.

"Yes, how else do you explain you getting into Harvard four years ago when I didn't," Paris told her.

"Right, sure," Rory said, taking the letter and the opener from her.

"Sure you want Rory to do that?" Tristan asked, "Sure her luck won't cancel out the letter opener's luck?"

"Oh, you're right," Paris said.

"He's kidding Paris," Rory told her, slicing the envelope open, reading the words of acceptance to Paris as she and Doyle yelled in excitement.

* * *

Over the next several minutes, Rory continued to open letter after letter of acceptance for Paris, the letters excitement dwindling as she realized all the acceptances she had been hoping for now meant she not only had to choose a school, but also had to decide between medicine and law.

"Can I ask the obvious question?" Tristan asked after Paris and Doyle left, leaving Rory and Tristan to collapse on the couch, exhausted after Paris' freakout.

"What?" Rory asked, snuggling up to Tristan as she lay on his chest.

"If that letter opener is so lucky, shouldn't she have got into Harvard four years ago? Or did she not use the lucky letter opener, thus creating it lucky when the rest of her letters showed acceptance?" Tristan asked.

"Huh, you know, I never gave it a thought," Rory said, "I don't imagine Paris has either. It will burst her bubble of reasons she didn't get into Harvard so she's happier living in her lucky letter opener world."

"I guess," Tristan said.

"So, Logan got off, okay?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, he's really excited about this trip, too," Tristan said, "The conversations he's had with the couple of guys he's meeting with have gone well."

"Think he'll move there?" Rory asked.

"If everything goes well, yeah," Tristan said.

"Good for him. He needs something good like this in his life," Rory said, "I'll sort of miss having him around, but he deserves something good."

"Still no word from the Times?" Tristan asked, kissing the top of her head as she released a sigh.

"Nope. I checked online and they're supposed to be notifying people this week so I expect a letter soon," Rory told him.

"It's going to be a yes," Tristan told her, tilting her face up to look at him, kissing her lips, softly, "I know it."

"I hope so," Rory said, laying her head back down, kissing his chest as her phone rang, "Shoot that's probably my Mom. I told her I would call her back"

"How'd everything go with the car?" Tristan asked as Rory sat up and grabbed her phone.

"She's going shopping for a new one," Rory told him, "Hey, Mom. Sorry, Paris just left and I forgot I was supposed to call you back."

"It's fine, kid. How did it go?" Lorelai asked.

"She got accepted into six schools and is now freaking out over what to choose," Rory told her.

"Wow, good for Paris," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, I guess," Rory said.

"Are you not excited for Paris?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I am. I'm happy for her," Rory said, "I know it can be overwhelming having to choose between all these great schools, but I keep thinking at least she has the choice to make. She knows that one of these options is her future."

"And you're still waiting to hear," Lorelai said.

"Yeah. Did I make a mistake saying no to the Pro Jo?" Rory asked, "What if that was my one chance at a job opportunity and I wasted it?"

"You'll have other job opportunities, kid, I promise," Lorelai told her, "The Pro Jo saw your worth and so will all the other papers you're waiting to hear from."

"I hope so. Thanks, Mom," Rory said, "So, enough about me. Did you talk to Luke about looking for a car?"

"Yeah, we're going tomorrow afternoon," Lorelai told her, "I still have no idea what I want so I guess we'll just car to a lot and start looking."

"Well, you have a better job now and more money. You can afford to get something really good, something you really want," Rory told her,

"True, but figuring out what I want has not been as easy as you'd think," Lorelai said, "I've never just pictured my dream car. I sort of stumbled across the jeep and it just felt right."

"Well, maybe you stumble across a nice minivan that feels right, too," Rory told her.

"I'm not getting a minivan," Lorelai reminded her.

"That's one you can cross off your list," Rory said, "One less option to choose from."

* * *

"So, where do you want to start?" Luke asked, joining Lorelai at the front of his truck, taking her hand after they arrived at a car lot.

"Well, no minivans, so we can skip this first section," Lorelai said, noticing the row closest to them.

"Not that I can see you in one, but why no minivans?" Luke asked.

"Because they scream soccer mom," Lorelai told him, "Debbie Fincher and all those other Stars Hollow moms with the same haircut drive minivans. I'm not them. I am not a soccer mom."

"Rory has never showed any interest in sports, playing or watching, neither has Riley that I've seen. April is into her science stuff, so the only child you have to worry about is Sophie and she is only a year old," Luke said, "And she may not even want to play soccer."

"She may want to play some sport. She is your daughter after all," Lorelai said.

"Yes, but you don't need a special car to drive her to games and practice," Luke said, "We live in Stars Hollow, you can walk everywhere. A ten minute lap and you're back where you started."

"True. So why do so many Mom's in Stars Hollow have minivans than?" Lorelai asked.

"No, idea. The things most people in Stars Hollow do astound me," Luke said, leading her away from the minivans towards the next row of cars.

"Hmm, these are sort of cute," Lorelai said, stopping in front of a little hatchback.

"You don't buy a car because it's cute, Lorelai," Luke said.

"No, you don't buy a car because it's cute," Lorelai said, taking a seat inside the car, getting a feel for it, "I consider the cute factor in every purchase I make."

"Well?" Luke asked as Lorelai adjusted the mirror and looked around the inside of the car.

"Hmm, no," Lorelai said, getting out of the car, closing the door, walking towards another section.

"What was wrong with it? You said it was cute," Luke said.

"So is a baby squirrel, but I'm not just going to take it home with me," Lorelai said.

"Not exactly the same thing, but I see your point," Luke said, "Moving on, what about this car didn't you like so we can narrow it down? Is it the wrong color? Did you not like the floor mats?"

"No, the colors good. I like the grey," Lorelai told him, "The floor mats are floor mats. They could be cuter, but whatever I decide on I can always change those."

"Okay, so nothing else was wrong with this car, but you still don't like it," Luke said.

"It just didn't feel right," Lorelai told him.

"It didn't feel right?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, with the Wrangler, I just knew," Lorelai said, "The moment I saw it, the first time I sat behind the wheel it was just...it was right. I knew it immediately. That car was my freedom. I left my parents home with next to nothing. I arrived in Stars Hollow in a cab and until I got the Wrangler I only went as far as my feet could carry me as I carried Rory. I knew when I saw it that it would be the car I taught Rory to drive in. I drove her to her first day of Chilton in that car and now she's a few weeks away from her last day at Yale."

"So, this isn't just about choosing a car," Luke said, "You're also choosing a vessel to house new memories."

"Yeah, I guess so. I thought it would be easy. I don't have to choose the least expensive car I can find because I'm watching every penny I spend," Lorelai said, "I can choose almost anything I want, but, I don't know, choosing a new car seems like I'm also choosing to erase all the memories that go along with the old one."

"Nothing can erase the memories you have in that car," Luke told her, "The memories you and Rory share, a new car isn't going to take those away from you; it's just going to create opportunity for new memories, memories you can make and share with Sophie. Maybe this new car will be the one she learns to drive in."

"I doubt that unless I'm teaching her to drive at an early age," Lorelai said, "I only kept the jeep alive for eight years. I don't know if a car could survive under my care for that long."

"If not that, it will be the car you drive Sophie to her first day of school in. And when Rory and Tristan get settled in New York it will be the car you drive to go visit them," Luke said.

"If that's where they end up. Otherwise it could be a good road trip car to wherever they end up," Lorelai said. "But, it will be used to accompany April when she starts at NYU in the fall.

"See, we've got a lot of memories ahead of in this new car," Luke said, "Now, you just have to pick one."

* * *

"Mom's downstairs," Rory said, pausing the movie they were watching and reading the text that just came through on her phone.

"Think she has her new car?" Riley asked, picking his phone up from the coffee table to read the message from Lorelai.

"I'd assume so or she would just come up," Rory said, throwing on her shoes so she and Riley could go see what brought Lorelai over during the middle of the week. Tristan and Stephanie were both in class, so Rory and Riley decided to take a break from studying and a have a little movie marathon.

"Let's go see what she got," Riley said, opening the door and letting Rory go out ahead of him.

"You got another Jeep?" Rory questioned, walking out of the apartment building with Riley, seeing Lorelai and Luke next to a new Jeep Renegade.

"Yeah, I wasn't intending to, but after looking at dozens of cars and going to a few different lots, I saw this one," Lorelai said, "It gave me that same sort of feeling the Wrangler did, plus it's bigger so in a few years when Sophie's in school and wants to go somewhere with her friends, I have more room if I drive them. And if Luke and I go somewhere, like if we drive up to New York for a weekend or something to visit one kid or another, we have more room and it gets better gas mileage than Luke's truck."

"It's a pretty car. I like the color," Rory said.

"That, kid, is the best part," Lorelai told her.

"It's grey," Riley said, "What's so great about the color grey?"

"It's not just any grey though," Lorelai told them, "No car is just red or blue or white. It's always something like winterberry or snowfall or some other option that sounds like they got it from Crayola."

"Okay, well, if this car isn't grey, what is it?" Rory asked.

"Anvil," Lorelai said.

"What?" Rory asked.

"The color is anvil," Lorelai said again.

"Huh," Riley said, "You finally did it."

"I'm missing a joke here somewhere, right?" Luke asked.

"Mom, finally did it," Rory said, "She finally figured out where all the anvils went."

"They were melted down to be the paint on my car," Lorelai said, smiling at the idea, "Now who wants a ride?"

* * *

"Oh, good you're home," Riley said, jumping up from the couch when the door opened and Rory walked in.

"Yes, I live here. I do tend to come home once in awhile," Rory said, "What are you doing here? You have your own apartment."

"We got mail today," Riley told her, holding up two identical envelopes.

"So, not only did you break into my apartment, you committed another crime and went through my mail," Rory said.

"I have a key, remember," Riley said, "The mail, yes, that was overstepping a bit. But, I didn't open it, all I did was take it out of the box. I needed to see if you got yours when I checked mine."

"So, this is it, huh," Rory said, taking the envelope with her name on it, having a seat on the couch next to Riley.

"Yep. This little envelope will tell us our future," Riley said, "Will we be in New York, working for The Times or do we consider other options."

"Together?" Rory asked.

"Together," Riley said.

"Dear Miss Gilmore-Hayden…" Rory began.

"We are pleased to offer you," Riley said, "I got it! Rory?"

"Congratulations, Big Brother. You deserve it," Rory said, setting her letter down, wiping a tear that had fallen, hoping Riley didn't notice.

"What's it say, Baby Girl?" Riley asked, picking her letter up, quickly noticing the word regret that had been absent in his letter, "Oh, Rory. I, I don't know…"

"It's fine. They only have so many internships to offer. I knew it was a long shot," Rory said, getting up from the couch, grabbing her bag and going to the kitchen.

"Baby Girl, it's okay to be upset about this," Riley said, following her into the kitchen where she was pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"What's the point? I didn't get the internship, oh well," Rory said, "Something else will come along."

"Rory," Riley said, laying a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to let her feelings out. They both wanted to get the internship, but he knew Rory had wanted it more than him. She wanted it, not just for herself, but for Tristan, too. He had several offers from architecture firms in the city and was even looking at spaces to possibly start his own, but was holding off making a decision until they knew if Rory would be working at The Times.

"I really wanted this, Ry," Rory said, turning around to face him, his arms wrapping around her as she laid her head on his shoulder and cried, "I'm happy for you, I am. You've worked really hard and you're such a good writer. You deserve this internship, but I really wanted it, too."

"I know, Baby Girl, I know," Riley said, "But, The Times isn't the only paper in the world or New York even. You'll get your chance."

"You think so?" Rory asked, lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him.

"I know so. This is just one thing, Rory," Riley said, "It's one job you didn't get. You're going to get offers from so much more."

"Thanks, Ry," Rory said, giving him a hug, before pulling back to wipe her tears, "Now, enough of me feeling sorry for myself. I may not have got the Reston, but you did. We need to celebrate that. I can figure out what I want to do later. Tonight we celebrate you. I'm proud of you, Big Brother."

"Thanks, Baby Girl," Riley said.

* * *

 **AN:** Okay, so two things. One, if you know cars, you'll know the car I picked out for Lorelai was not a model available in 2007, but as I was writing this I saw a commercial for the 2017 Jeep Renegade and it just seemed like a Lorelai car to me and when I discovered a color option was anvil, I was sold. Two, I went back and forth with myself since I first started the Rory  & Riley series on how I would go with the Reston, who would get it if either of them did, and what the other would do if only one got it. I gave it a lot of thought and finally decided on giving it to Riley and having Rory take a different path. Also, I wanted to let you all know that I will be leaving on vacation on Sunday and will be gone for twelve days. My vacation is a big part of my lack of updating as I've been working a lot to make up for the time I'll be off (pto only goes so far) and saving for the trip itself. I've also been spending a lot of time planning and researching, but now finally it's almost here. Sunday afternoon, I am getting in a car with my best friend and we are road tripping to Wilmington, NC! If you're a One Tree Hill fan like me, you know how excited I am for this! I've never been and I haven't been on a vacation in fifteen years so I'm looking forward to this trip! Enjoy the chapter, everyone! I hope to have a new one for you when I get back. Happy reading!


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: "You might be able to convince me after a few drinks, Steph, but not likely,"

* * *

"Wow, sure is a full house in here tonight," Lorelai said, walking into the living room of her parents house and taking a seat on the sofa next to Rory and Riley, looking across the room at the Hayden's sat on the loveseat and to her right at Christopher seated in the chair next to them.

"With finals starting tomorrow and the studying we still need to do to prepare for next week's finals, we asked Grandma if we could all do dinner tonight so we have the whole weekend after tomorrow's test to prepare," Rory said.

"It's been a long time since we've all been together like this," Lorelai said, accepting the martini her father offered her as he and Emily continued to hand out drinks, "Thanks, Dad."

"Yes, we've all certainly come a long way since that first Christmas we had together here," Richard said.

"It's nice to all get together," Straub agreed.

"Who knows when we'll be able to again, if ever," Francine said, "You kids are graduating and going off to start your lives. It could be ages before we all have a chance to spend an evening together again."

"Grandma we're not going away forever," Riley told her, "We'll make time to see each other."

"And it's not as if they're moving across the country, Francine," Emily told her, "New York is hardly that far. We'll see tons of the kids."

"Well, actually, Grandma," Rory said, "I don't know for sure if Tristan and I will be in New York."

"Why wouldn't you be in New York?" Emily asked, "It's where The Times is, after all."

"That's true, but I won't be working at The Times," Rory said, looking down as she felt Riley's hand in hers as he squeezed it for support. Neither of them had told their family the results of the letters they received. Riley was excited to tell them he got the internship, but was waiting for Rory to be ready to tell them she hadn't, "I didn't get the Reston Fellowship."

"Oh, Rory, dear, that's terrible," Francine said.

"You didn't tell me that," Lorelai asked, "When did you find out?"

"A few days ago. Our letters came in not long after you showed us your new car," Rory said, "You were excited about it and I wasn't ready to say anything."

"Rory, you didn't have to...wait you said letters," Lorelai said, "Riley? You heard back as well?"

"I did," Riley said, looking over at Rory before saying anything else, "I got my letter as well and I got it. I'll be interning at The New York Times."

"That's wonderful, Riley," Emily said.

"We're so proud of you," Straub said.

"Very proud," Francine said, "It's such a shame though that you both couldn't…"

"It's fine Grandma," Rory told her, "It's very competitive and they only choose a few people so it was a long shot for even one of us to get it. I'm very happy for Riley. He'll do great. He deserves this."

"Thanks, Baby Girl," Riley said, pulling her to him to hug her and kiss the top of her head.

"Wherever you end up, my dear, I'm sure you'll do great things there as well," Richard said, "And Congratulations, Riley."

"Thanks, Grandpa," they both said.

"Dinner is ready, Mrs. Gilmore," Alexandra, their maid said, walking into the living room before quickly returning to the kitchen to begin serving.

* * *

"Two finals down, another three to go," Riley said, walking into Rory and Tristan's apartment, finding his sister on the couch with her feet up, a pint of ice cream in her hands. He walked into the kitchen to grab a spoon for himself before joining her, "What's up?"

"I got a letter from the Chicago Sun-Times today," Rory told him, taking another spoonful of the ice cream, "They're not hiring."

"I'm sorry, Baby Girl," Riley said, digging his spoon into the carton.

"I've sent out resumes to a thousand places and all I've got to show for it is two rejections," Rory said.

"You'll hear from other places soon, I'm sure," Riley told her.

"I called the Pro Jo to see if that job was still available, but they already filled the position," Rory told him, "Why did I turn that job down again?"

"It wasn't your dream. Yeah, the Pro Jo is good paper and working there would have been a good stepping stone to other opportunities, but it wasn't the job you've dreamed of since you first started writing and imagining yourself as the next Christiane Amanpour," Riley said, "You want more and that's okay. You want a stepping stone that you're going to love and want to say yes to the moment the job is offered to you. That's why you turned the Pro Jo down in the first place. You knew you wanted The Times so you held out for that."

"I didn't get that though, so now what?" Rory asked.

"Now you wait. We're fortunate enough that finding work immediately after college isn't necessary," Riley said, "We have family that can help provide for us if we need it and you have Tristan."

"I don't want to just be a Hartford housewife, though, Ry," Rory said.

"I know that and you won't be," he told her, "It just may take a little longer than you planned to get that dream job, but it will come."

"I hope so," Rory said, handing the ice cream carton to Riley and moving so she could lay her head on his shoulder.

"You've worked too hard for other papers and job opportunities not to take notice," Riley told her, leaning his head on top of hers, "Just give it time. The perfect job will find you, probably when you least expect it."

* * *

"We did it," Stephanie said, raising her glass along with Riley, Rory, and Tristan, "Our four years at Yale are complete."

"Yep, finals are done, classes are over," Riley said.

"Next stop, graduation," Rory said.

"And the rest of our lives," Tristan added, the four of them clinking their glasses together as they celebrated.

"So, anyone brave enough to go up?" Stephanie asked, gesturing towards the stage where Babette and Miss Patty were in the middle of their third song. Deciding to break away from the crowd of people that would be celebrating at the pub in New Haven, the four of them chose instead to go to K.C.'s in Stars Hollow and surprise to them it was karaoke night.

"You might be able to convince me after a few drinks, Steph, but not likely," Rory said.

"Oh, come on, Mar. It could be fun," Tristan said, "We could do one together."

"You want to get up there and sing karaoke?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, why not? We could find something to sing together," he said, "What do you say?"

"I'll think about it," Rory said, taking a sip of her drink, "If Steph and Ry do one, too."

"I'm in," Stephanie said, turning around in her seat to grab the book of songs from the table behind them, "Let's start picking."

"Are you really dragging me into this, too?" Riley asked.

"Yep. If I'm going to get up there and humiliate myself in front of the town than so are you," Rory told him.

"Great. Let's pick a song I guess, Steph," Riley told her, scooting closer to her to look through book of songs.

* * *

Another hour later, Babette and Miss Patty had finished their set of fifteen songs. Kirk had also taken a turn with his rendition of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and Gypsy took on "Love is a Battlefield." Enjoying a few drinks as they looked over the lists of songs, they were ready to take their turns, having now picked out songs to perform.

"You're sure you want to go with this one?" Riley asked, walking towards the stage with Stephanie.

"Of course. It's a karaoke classic," Stephanie told him.

"But Sonny and Cher?" Riley asked.

"It's a good song," Stephanie told him, taking her place at the mic to begin the song, "They say we're young and we don't know. We won't find out until we grow."

"Well I don't know if all that's true. 'Cause you got me, and baby I got you," Riley sang, smiling at Stephanie as he said the words, "Babe!"

"I got you babe. I got you babe," they sang together, getting into the feel of the song and enjoying the townspeople's reaction.

"I got you to hold my hand," Riley sang, nearing the end of the song, taking Stephanie's hand in his.

"I got you to understand," Stephanie sang.

"I got you to walk with me."

"I got you to talk with me."

"I got you to kiss goodnight," they sang together, Riley placing a kiss on Stephanie's cheek as hid did, "I got you to hold me tight. I got you, I won't let go. I got you to love me so. I got you babe."

"I got you babe," they repeated as the song faded out, receiving cheers and applause from the audience.

"You guys were awesome," Rory said as they walked back to the table, "I never knew you could sing so well, Ry."

"Me either," Riley said, "That was actually really fun."

"You're next," Stephanie told them.

"Do we have to?" Rory asked, "You guys did so good. No way can we follow that."

"If you really don't want to get up there Rory we don't have to," Tristan told her, "We can just enjoy a few more drinks and watch Kirk try and sing some more before calling it a night."

"It did seem like Steph and Ry were having fun once the song got going," Rory said, "and we can pick something I really know the words to so it's easier."

"Up to you," Tristan said.

"Let's do it," Rory said, grabbing the book from Stephanie, flipping through the pages quickly before settling on a song she liked, "Got it."

"Really? This is a song you really know?" Tristan asked.

"Yep, every word," Rory told him, closing the book and walking towards the front so they could let the DJ know their song choice.

"So, when you think me and karaoke do you really see me performing as a seventy year old country singer?" Tristan asked, "Because I definitely don't see you as a sixty year old buxom blonde."

"Well, technically Kenny Rogers was only forty-five and Dolly wasn't even in her forties yet when they released this song," Rory told him.

"Okay, but you seriously know this song?" he asked again.

"You don't?" she questioned.

"I know of it. I've heard it a few times, but you clearly have more knowledge of country music than I ever knew," Tristan said.

"Not all country music, just Dolly's," Rory told him.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yep. And if I were brave enough I could perform more songs than Babette and Miss Patty did," Rory told him.

"How?" Tristan asked.

"Mom," Rory told him, "She's always wanted to go to Dollywood."

"You don't need to know the owner's entire discography to be allowed entry into the park."

"I know that, but we Lorelai's like to go big. If we do something we go all out."

"Okay. Well, let's karaoke, Dolly," Tristan said, following Rory up onto the stage, taking his place as he awaited the lyrics to appear on the screen.

"Good luck, Kenny," Rory told him.

"Baby when I met you, there was peace unknown. I set out to get you with a fine tooth comb…" Tristan began the song.

"I can't live without you if the love was gone. Everything is nothing if you've got no one," Rory sang as they got to the middle of the song, "And you just walk in the the night. Slowly losing sight of the real thing."

"But that won't happen to us, and we got no doubt. Too deep in love, and we got no way out," they sang together, facing each other, their mics in their hands, holding onto each other with the other, "and the message is clear, this could be the year for the real thing."

"We start and end as one. In love forever. We can ride it together, uh huh. Making love with each other, uh huh," Rory and Tristan sang, nearing the end, several people in the audience joining them as the chorus repeated, "Islands in the stream, that is what we are. No one in between, how can we be wrong. Sail away with me. to another world. And we rely on each other, uh huh. From one lover to another, uh huh."

"Baby Girl you were amazing," Riley said, standing up from his chair to give his sister a hug when the applause at the end of their performance died down and they made it back to their seats.

"Thanks, Ry," Rory said, "That really was fun."

"I told you it would be," Stephanie told her, "You want to do one with me now?"

"I think I'm good," Rory said, "Once was enough. There's not enough tequila in Connecticut to get me to go up there a second time."

* * *

A few days after their evening of karaoke at K.C.'s it was graduation day. Walking through campus together in their caps and gowns Rory and Riley reflected on their last four years as they awaited Stephanie and Tristan to join them after they greeted their parents.

"It's crazy, you know," Rory began, walking without any direct course in mind, "All my life I saw Harvard as the goal. It filled my walls, it filled my mind. It was the dream."

"Princeton was the same for me. The first time I went their with Grandpa Straub I was probably six or seven," Riley said, "He pointed out all these places he walked, sat, ate, everywhere on the campus he has spent his youth and I looked up to the man. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to walk where he walked."

"And yet we both ended up here," Rory said.

"Exactly here," Riley said, pointing up at the building their feet had led them to while their minds wandered.

"My freshman dorm," Rory said, looking and the plaque next to the door that read 'Durfee,' "It's where we first met."

"For the second time anyway," Riley said, opening the door so they could walk in, allowing Rory to walk in before him.

"Does this hallway seem smaller to you?" Rory asked, stopping in front of her old suite.

"Considering my first memory of this hallway, I've tried not to pay attention to it too much," Riley said, "Whenever I came over I had my eyes focused on just getting to your door and ignoring that spot over there."

"While he may not be your proudest moment, it was the moment that brought us back together," Rory said, "I've never been more thankful that I couldn't get to sleep that night."

"I'm thankful that I snored and that you had sweatpants you let me borrow," Riley said, "It could have been a nightmare if someone else had found me."

"Yeah, imagine if Paris had come out instead of me," Rory said.

"I think I would have gladly suffered the public nudity charge and ran," he said.

"Probably the better option," she said, pushing her sleeve back to check her watch, "We should probably head back towards the quad."

"So this party tonight, are you ready for it?" Riley asked her, holding the door open for her as they left the dorm building.

"It's going to be huge. Bigger than any of our birthdays or the Gilmore Christmas party," Rory said.

"Yep. They're probably going to be family there we've never heard of, let alone met," Riley said, "And they'll likely announce to everyone that I'm going to be interning at The Times."

"The grandparents are proud of you, Ry, of course they will," Rory said.

"Well, do you have an answer of what you're doing after graduation to give them to go along with it?" he asked.

"I do. Tristan and I made our final decision last night," Rory told him, "He's making a call today to secure where we're going to live and than we'll let everyone know."

"I don't get a hint?" Riley asked.

"Nope, sorry, Big Brother. Nothing until it's final," Rory said.

"Fine, but can you say something right away? As soon as you know?" Riley asked, "Because I kind of have an announcement of my own to make tonight."

"Like what?" Rory asked, "You are Steph aren't engaged cause one or both of you would have told me already if you were."

"We're not engaged," Riley said, "Yet."

"Yet? Are you going to propose at our party?" Rory asked.

"If it's okay with you since it is your party, too," Riley said.

"Of course it's okay," Rory said, hugging him, "Ry, this is amazing. I'm really happy for you, Big Brother."

"Thanks, Baby Girl," Riley said, "I just hope she says yes."

"She'd be crazy not to," Rory told him, "She loves you."

"You know when I decided to go to Yale to find whatever it was my subconscious was telling me to look for," Riley said, "I never imagined I find sister, have her fall in love and get engaged to my best friend, and find the girl of dreams."

"Yale's been good to us, Ry," Rory said.

"It was a great four years," he said, "I'm glad I got to share them with you."

"Me too," Rory said, "Let's go graduate."

* * *

A few hours later, the Gilmore-Hayden's, Tristan, Stephanie, and Paris all had their degrees in hand and were mingling amongst friends and families of the Gilmore and Hayden families as they celebrated Rory and Riley's graduation from Yale. In between receiving congratulations on her commencement from Yale, Rory was also receiving best wishes from her relatives on her impending marriage to Tristan. She had been able to skirt the topic of what her future held career wise once they saw her ring and learned she was engaged to a DuGrey.

"Hey, Mom," Rory said approaching her and Luke as they spoke with Christopher and Sherry, "Can we talk to you all for a moment?"

"Sure, hun," Lorelai said.

"Is everything alright, Rory?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah, Dad. Tristan and I just have something to share before the grandparents make their speech," Rory told them.

"Alright, kid we're all here. What's the big news?" Lorelai asked once the four of them had followed Rory and Tristan into the study where Riley and Stephanie were already waiting.

"We're going to tell the grandparents in a bit, but we wanted you all to know first that we've made a decision on where we will be living once our lease is up at the end of the summer," Rory said.

"You got a job, then?" Riley asked, "Where?"

"Well," Rory began, "You all know Logan had that trip to San Francisco."

"Yeah, he met with some people and made some other contacts," Riley said, "But, he's never said anything further if it resulted in anything."

"No, not to everyone at least," Tristan said, "He only came to Rory and myself when he got back. He had a job offer for me and a potential one for Rory."

"In San Francisco?" Lorelai asked.

"Palo Alto, technically," Rory told her.

"And you're going?" Riley asked, already sensing the answer.

"Yes, we're moving to Palo Alto," Rory said.

* * *

 **AN:** I've had this chapter in progress on my computer since November. I've been adding to it and changing things a bit at a time, trying to make it what I wanted. I also spent a lot of time trying to plan out Rory's future. I had my idea of what I wanted her future to be career and living situation wise. Once I decided on Riley getting the Reston I knew I wanted Rory to end up somewhere else and going to Palo Alto like she would have in the show had she accepted Logan's proposal seemed like the place to go, but I just couldn't quite figure out how to make it happen and for it to make sense. But after weeks of thinking and some research of Palo Alto I found my answer! I should have that next and final chapter up soon. Thanks for sticking with me everyone. Happy reading! And Happy New Year!


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: "I plan to visit so much it's going to be like I'm living with you."

* * *

"So, what's the job?" Christopher asked a few seconds after the words Rory said had sunk in, his daughter was moving across the country.

"After some of his initial meetings Logan was out with a friend when he came across Dave Price and Jim Pavelich," Rory said.

"Dave Price?" Riley questioned, "Didn't Hunter S. Thompson write about him in one of his books? He reprinted some of his articles from his 1990 arrest."

"Yes, that's him. He's been a publisher and founder of several papers, including the Aspen Times Daily where he wrote about Thompson's arrest," Rory said, "He and Jim Pavelich were publishers at the Palo Alto Daily News, but they sold the paper a couple years ago."

"And now they are looking into starting another one," Tristan said, "They started a new publication in San Francisco last year, but they want to get back into publishing a paper in Palo Alto."

"Logan heard them discussing it and introduced himself," Rory said, "They offered him a spot on their team and Logan then suggested Tristan when they began to discuss where they would house the paper."

"The Daily News moved buildings and they want to redesign the space and put in their new publication, The Palo Alto Daily Post," Tristan said, "When Logan came home he discussed with me, moving out their temporarily to redesign the space or permanently if I wanted to make a business of my own."

"And every paper needs writers," Rory said, "So, Logan showed them some of my articles and the editions Ry and I have edited. They want to meet with me in person to make it official, but once the paper is up and going I will have a job."

"This is really what you want?" Lorelai asked, "Going all the way to California?"

"I never saw myself taking a job completely across the country from everything I've known," Rory said, "But, I'm excited for this. To work on a brand new paper, help it build from the ground up. And in a space that Tristan designs."

"Logan said the building is even big enough to rework into two office spaces so if I like, he said Dave and Jim are open to me designing it so it houses both the paper and my work space for future jobs," Tristan said.

"What about a place to live?" Christopher asked, "Have you looked at anything yet?"

"We've looked at a few listings for houses, but until we look at them in person and make a decision we'll stay with Logan at the apartment he found," Rory said.

"So, when are you going?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm going to go out there next week to check out the building, get some ideas for what they want," Tristan said, "It's going to take a few months to get everything done and get the paper going, plus we have the lease on the apartment here until August so we won't officially make our move until then."

"So we're not losing you just yet then," Lorelai said, "There's time to plan a big bon voyage party."

"Mom, I don't need a goodbye party, I'm not leaving forever," Rory said, "We'll be back all the time. I do still have a wedding to plan and I was kind of planning on it being on this coast."

"That may be true, but doesn't mean I'm not going to miss you like crazy, kid," Lorelai said, giving her daughter a hug.

"I'll miss you, too, Mom. I'll miss all of you," Rory said, looking over Lorelai's shoulder at Riley.

"We should probably get back out there before Mom and Dad send a search party," Lorelai said.

"I'll give you a minute," Tristan said, kissing Rory's cheek as he saw Riley hanging back, "I'll let Richard and Emily know we need a minute with them."

"Thanks, Tris," Rory said.

"Is this really happening?" Riley asked after Tristan left, "Four years together after spending our entire lives apart. Now we'll have the whole country between us."

"Ry, this wasn't a decision I came to lightly. I thought about this alot, Tristan and I both did," she told him, "You should see all the pro/con lists all over the apartment. We weighed all the options we had. Believe me leaving you was the highest on the con side."

"Even above Mom?" he asked.

"Even above Mom. You're more than just my big brother, Ry. You're even more than my twin, though that is definitely a lot," Rory said, "You're my best friend. Being apart from you is going to really suck."

"The worst," Riley said, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to him as she laid her head on his chest, "But we'll be okay. It's going to be hard, really hard, but we'll talk all the time and visit as much as we can."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to suggest to the grandparents that it would be a good idea to buy a plane," Rory said.

"Most definitely," Riley said, kissing the top of her head, "I'm going to hate not seeing you every day and I'll miss you like crazy, but I'm happy for you Baby Girl."

"You are?"

"Absolutely. This is a great opportunity for you. To get the chance to work at a paper from the ground up, it's really cool."

"Yeah. Logan thinks I'll be able to help decide the format and even choose what I want to write."

"That's awesome. Maybe if things suck at The Times, I'll join you."

"I don't see that happening, but it's a nice thought."

"Me either. I can hope, right?"

"I don't think there's a chance working at The New York Times could suck, but sure Ry," Rory said.

"Okay, I'm going to go back out. Let the grandparents know you're ready to talk to them," Riley said.

"Thanks, Ry. I'll see you out there," Rory said, "And, Ry?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Good luck," she told him.

"Thanks, Baby Girl."

* * *

After giving the grandparents a brief overview of their plans, promising to go into more detail either once the party was over or at a dinner at a later time, they rejoined the party, the grandparents all preparing to give a speech.

"First of all ladies and gentlemen," Richard began, "We want to thank all of you for coming out and celebrating our grandchildren's graduation."

"We couldn't be more proud of what these two have accomplished so far in their young lives," Straub said, "They've found love and success and they found each other."

"Watching the two of you together these past four years, watching you grow and achieve your dreams together is more than we ever could have imagined," Francine said.

"We love you both and well, we've prepared a little something," Emily said, "We couldn't come up with exactly the right words to tell you how proud we are of you so."

"Maestro," Richard said.

"Please excuse us, we're not singers," Straub said as the piano started, holding a paper in front of him and Francine.

"You're the top," Richard and Straub sang together, "You have graduated."

"You're the top," Emily and Francine sang, "Your grandparents are elated."

"Newspaper editors," Richard sang.

"Phi Beta Kappa, wow!" Straub sang.

"You're a revelation," Emily sang.

"A huge sensation," Francine sang.

"You both should take a bow."

"You are done. No more school for you."

"There is nothing now that you can't do."

"You've made us proud, we'll sing it loud. It's true."

"Cause now, Rory, Riley, you are Bulldogs through and through!"

"Yeah," Tristan cheered as everyone applauded them.

"Thank you, thank you," Richard said.

"Wow, thank you all," Rory said as she and Riley joined them in front of everyone, hugging all four of them.

"We meant every word, dears," Straub said.

"Even the ones we sang off key," Francine said.

"Well, thank you, so much," Riley said, "None of what we've accomplished would have been possible without you."

"You should all know that there is no way we could be Bulldogs through and through without our grandparents," Rory said, "Thank you all."

"Congratulations, Rory and Riley," Richard said, raising his champagne glass to them.

"To Rory and Riley," Straub said, raising his glass to them.

"To Rory and Riley," the crowd cheered.

"Thank you, everyone again," Riley said as Rory stepped back a bit, knowing what he was about to do, "We definitely could not have got where we are without our families and each other, but there is one more person I need to thank. Steph, can you join me, please."

"Riley you don't have to…" Stephanie began.

"I want to. Stephanie Marsh, you've been by my side through everything these last four years. You've been my classmate, my study partner, my friend, and my girlfriend," Riley said, pulling a box from his pocket has he dropped to his knees.

"Oh God," Stephanie said.

"And now I'd like to add two more to that list, fiancee and soon down the road, wife," Riley said, "Stephanie, will you marry me?"

"Oh, I, wow, uh, wow," Stephanie said.

"Is there a yes in between those 'wows'?" Riley asked, standing back up, taking her hand in his.

"Yes. Yes, Riley Gilmore-Hayden. I would love to marry you," Stephanie said, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him, pulling back so he could place the ring on her finger.

"Congratulations, Big Brother," Rory said, grabbing Riley in a hug as the guests cheered for them and Stephanie hugged her parents, showing her mother the ring.

"Thank you, Baby Girl," Riley said, "And thank you for letting me use our night to do this."

"Absolutely. I'm so happy for you and Steph," Rory said, hugging him again before grabbing Stephanie to hug her too and get her own turn at looking at the ring, "Let me see this Steph."

"Oh, like you didn't help him pick it out," Stephanie said.

"I didn't," Rory told her, admiring the rose gold, halo diamond engagement ring, "He didn't tell me until today he was proposing. This is all Riley."

"Wow. He's bought me earrings and necklace before, but I gave him ideas for both," Stephanie said, "I never gave him any idea of the kind of engagement ring I would like. It's perfect."

"Yeah, I love it," Rory said, hugging her again, "Oh, I just can't believe it."

"What's that?" Stephanie asked.

"We're going to be sisters," Rory said.

"We're going to have to call and email and everything all the time so we can plan our weddings together," Stephanie told her.

"Definitely," Rory said, "It's going to be exciting planning our big days at the same time."

* * *

A few days after the graduation party, Rory and Tristan had shared everything with the elder Gilmore's and Hayden's and while they weren't thrilled with one of their grandchildren moving across the country they were happy for Rory and excited for the opportunity she had.

"What in the world is all this?" Tristan asked, coming into the apartment after having lunch with his grandfather, seeing Rory and Riley in the kitchen surrounded by lists and maps.

"Well, since you are going to be spending the majority of the summer in Palo Alto working on redesigning the office space for the paper," Rory said.

"And Stephanie is starting her job at the MET in a couple weeks," Riley said.

"We are planning a little trip," Rory said.

"This doesn't look so little," Tristan said, noticing the marks on the maps in various cities in several states across the country, "What's the plan for all this?"

"We're road tripping," Rory told him, "We'll start here and work our way across the country, ending in Palo Alto where we'll meet up with you."

"And Stephanie is going to fly in when we get there so the four of us can have a vacation," Riley said.

"We can stay in Palo Alto, explore San Francisco or go somewhere else for a few days," Rory said, "And before we leave you and I can look at houses."

"Sounds like a good plan. Looks like we'll have another few weeks after that to get everything squared away here and either shipped to Palo Alto or put in storage," Tristan said, "What exactly does this little road trip of yours entail?"

"Roller coasters," Rory told him.

"Roller coasters?" Tristan asked.

"Yes, roller coasters and coffee," Riley said, "We've been doing a lot of research and we've mapped out the countries best, biggest, fastest, scariest, and oldest roller coasters."

"And the best coffee," Rory added, "We're going to travel the country seeking out all of it."

"Sounds like a lot of fun," Tristan said.

"Yeah, well, it could be awhile before we're able to do anything like this together again," Rory said, "So, we're going to make this the most amazing summer ever."

* * *

A couple weeks after graduation, Tristan was in Palo Alto looking over the space for the paper, making plans for the redesign with Logan, Dave, and Jim. Stephanie had started her job at The MET and had moved into her and Riley's new apartment in the city, courtesy of the Hayden's and Marsh's. Rory and Riley were packing up Rory's new car and getting set for their road trip. Since her Prius was now a few years old, the Gilmore's thought it best she have something new for California. With their blessing, Rory gifted her Prius to April. She wouldn't really need it in the city, but would keep it in long-term parking to get her back and forth to Connecticut.

"You kids have everything you need?" Lorelai asked, standing outside the Twickham House as Rory and Riley prepared to leave. They packed everything up in New Haven, but came to Stars Hollow before beginning their trip to say goodbye to everyone and for Luke and Sookie to fill the car with snacks for them.

"Yes, we have food and Luke has supplied us with bags and bags of his coffee so we don't have to drink the crap they have in hotels," Riley said, "We're good, Mom."

"You're sure?" Lorelai asked, "You don't need to wait another day or two or thousand?"

"Mom, we're ready," Rory told her, giving her a hug, "We're not going for good, yet."

"Yeah, we'll be back in a few weeks, Mom so you have plenty of time to plan your big, grand going away party for us," Riley said.

"I'm not planning a going away party for you," Lorelai said.

"Please, the way the town reacted when they found out they couldn't come to graduation," Rory said, "There's going to be a party."

"Maybe a small one," Lorelai said, "Just a little something to celebrate your graduation and new jobs."

"We can't wait, Mom," Riley said, giving her a hug and kiss, "Ready, Baby Girl."

"Yep, first stop Boulder Dash," Rory said, opening the passenger door of the car to get in, Riley had offered to drive first.

"Okay, so I guess we'll see you in a few weeks," Lorelai said, giving Riley another hug before turning to Rory, "You have everything?"

"Yes, we're good," Rory told her, hugging her tight, "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, kid, both of you," Lorelai said, pulling Riley into the hug, too.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, Rory and Riley made their journey towards the west coast. After their first stop at the nearby Boulder Dash, they visited Coney Island and rode the Cyclone. From there they went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and paid a visit to Dollywood before moving North to Ohio for a couple of days. Their first day in Ohio they went to Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world, then the next day they went to Kings Island. Leaving Cincinnati they went to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. As they made it farther out West they spent a day at Glenwood Caverns in Colorado, enjoying the Alpine Coaster, a first in the United States, then moved on to Phoenix to visit Castles N' Coasters.

In addition to the roller coasters they did make a point to try out as many local coffee shops as they could, finding small diners and cafes in or near every city they visited. They were thankful to have the bags of coffee from Luke as each place they tried was good, but still nowhere near as good as Luke's.

"I'm going to need Luke to send me coffee on a weekly basis," Rory said as they drove towards Los Angeles. They were nearing the end of their road trip and were meeting up with Tristan and Stephanie to spend a few days in LA. Tristan had picked Stephanie up at the airport and they were all meeting up at their hotel. The next day they were going to experience a few more roller coasters as the four of them went to Six Flags Magic Mountain.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Coffee in New York is good and we've had some good cups on this trip, but brewing cups of Luke's in the hotel has been the best," Riley said.

* * *

"So, where to first?" Tristan asked as they walked through the front gate of the park the next day, his arm wrapped around Rory's waist.

"Tatsu?" Rory asked, looking at Riley.

"Absolutely," Riley said, "I've been looking forward that one the whole trip."

"How crazy is this one?" Stephanie asked.

"It's not crazy, it's fun," Riley told her, bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss just below her engagement ring, "You can jump off scaffolding several stories in the air, but a roller coaster worries you?"

"It doesn't worry me, I've just never been a big fan. We didn't do things like this when I was growing up so I never really took a liking to any amusement park rides," Stephanie said.

"It will be fun, trust me," Riley told her, "And I'll hold your hand the entire time."

"Good, but you still never answered the original question," Stephanie told him.

"Yeah, what's this one all about?" Tristan asked.

"Well, it opened last year," Rory said.

"In May," Riley added.

"And it's the tallest, fastest, and longest flying roller coaster in the world," Rory said.

"It has the world's largest pretzel loop," Riley said, "And is the only flying coaster with a zero-gravity roll."

"Okay, sounds insane, but that's usually the mark of a really awesome roller coaster," Tristan said, "Let's do it."

Hours later as the evening approached they had been on every coaster in the park, Tatsu three times as both Tristan and Stephanie took a liking to it after the first ride and wanted to go again. Leaving the park they had dinner near the park before going back to their hotel in Los Angeles. After a few days there visiting various spots in and around the city, taking tours of movie lots and Rory and Riley spending hours at The Last Bookstore, Riley and Stephanie flew back home while Rory and Tristan drove her car to Palo Alto. Rory was spending a couple weeks there while she and Tristan looked for and set up a place to live. She was also going to meet her new employers for the first time and get a look at the office space Tristan had been working on.

* * *

"You bought a house?" Riley asked as he helped Rory pack up her and Tristan's things. She had been back in Connecticut a few days, leaving Tristan in Palo Alto to continue working on the newspaper office and finalizing everything for their new house, "I thought you were going to look at apartments?"

"We did at first. We weren't finding anything we liked and on a drive around one night after dinner we took a wrong turn and found a house for sale, on Yale Street," Rory told him.

"Yale Street?" Riley asked.

"Yep, who knew, right? It will be a little piece of home and the place that brought Tristan and I back together," Rory said, "We were initially going to just look at it really. We had no intentions of buying it, but the moment we walked in it just felt, right."

"That's awesome, Baby Girl. I guess that means you'll be out there for a good long time, the," Riley said.

"Ry," Rory said.

"I'm happy for you, I am," Riley said, putting down the dish he was wrapping in paper to wrap his arms around her, "But, it still sucks that I'm losing you."

"I know. I'm going to miss you so much, Big Brother," Rory said.

"But, it's time to spread your wings," Riley said, "Show the west coast just how badass of a writer you are."

"The house does have three bedrooms," Rory said, "One will be ours, obviously."

"Obviously," Riley agreed with a laugh.

"The other two we were going to have one be an office for the two of us to share and the other will be a guest room," Rory said.

"Are you going to let me pick out things for it because I will be a frequent visitor," Riley said, "I plan to visit so much it's going to be like I'm living with you."

"I hope so," Rory said, "I plan to visit you a ton, too, but do you really want to decorate the guest room?"

"Not really. I'll leave that to you," Riley said as they continued on with their packing.

"So, this party Mom's throwing, it's going to be insane isn't it?" Rory asked.

"Definitely. Apparently her and Luke have actually been working with Taylor, coordinating permits and whatever else they need to take over the square to give town princess Rory Gilmore-Hayden the best damn bon voyage party anyone's ever seen," Riley said.

* * *

Driving into town with Tristan the day before their flight to Palo Alto, Rory squealed in her seat with excitement seeing the entire town filling the square. Everyone in town was stood under a tent, protecting them from the falling rain. All of her classmates she knew when she attended Stars Hollow High, a few from Chilton she hadn't seen in awhile, and of course her family with Riley front and center were gathered under the tent, signs in hand to wish her well and good luck on her new job.

"This town really loves you," Tristan said, taking hold of her hand as he parked, kissing her ring finger.

"I am the princess," Rory said with a laugh, looking up and seeing Riley and Steph running towards them with umbrellas to lead them to the tent where Rory heard cheers of excitement and love for her as they approached.

Moving from one town member to another, Rory greeted and hugged everyone before moving to her family. She gave big hugs to both sets of her grandparents, her Dad and Sherry, Gigi, April, Sophie, Luke, Jess, and lastly her Mom.

"I can't believe you did all this," Rory said, pulling back from her hug with Lorelai, wiping away a tear as she looked around at all the people in her life who loved her, "You voluntarily got Taylor's permission and went through legal Stars Hollow mandates to make this happen."

"I'd do anything for you kid, you know that," Lorelai said, "Even grovel at Taylor's feet to let us throw you the going away bash of the century."

"I love it, Mom," Rory said, hugging her again, "And I love you, so much. Thank you."

As the day went on and the rain let up they enjoyed food prepared on the grills by Luke along with Jess' help. They enjoyed pies, cakes, and cookies prepared by Sookie. They danced to music arranged by both Kirk and Hep Alien, Lane refusing to bid her best friend goodbye without the band that got its start in Rory's garage playing for her.

When evening arrived the out of town guest began to say their goodbyes and before long Rory and Tristan were with her family at the Twickham House. They had sent ahead all of their belongings, instructing Logan to let the movers in the house and place the boxes in the appropriate rooms and would be flying out from Hartford the next morning. They had officially moved out of their apartment the week before and been staying with Riley and Stephanie in New York. The work on the office was nearing its end and the paper was slated to be up and running the first of September, giving Rory and Tristan just under a month to get everything in the house organized before Rory would start work.

* * *

"This is it then, huh?" Riley asked as they all stood inside the airport. There was still a couple of hours until Rory and Tristan's plane was set to take off, but wanting to have ample time to say goodbye to everyone before going through security they arrived early.

"It's only a couple months until our birthday and you're coming out here for it right?" Rory asked.

"Yep. I've already put that in with the times. I'll come in Friday evening so we have the whole weekend, but then I've got to leave that Monday night though so I can be back to work on Tuesday," Riley said.

"And we'll Skype all the time?" Rory asked.

"Everyday, Baby Girl," Riley told her, "I'm also going to give Mom and Luke lessons on using it so you can talk with them, too. Dad's already good on that end."

"I love you, Big Brother," Rory told him, clinging to him as she cried.

"I love you, too, Baby Girl, so much," Riley said, kissing the top of her head before resting his head on top of hers, "I'm proud of you, you know. Going out there and making a place and name for yourself in an unfamiliar city. You're going to do so great. I can't wait for that first byline. It's going to be framed and hanging up in my cubicle at The Times."

"You're going to hang a framed article from another paper in office of The New York Time?" Rory questioned.

"Yep. I want to show off to everyone how amazing you are and how proud I am of you," Riley said, "And if someone important should happen to read it and demand to have you in New York, well then that would just make it so much better."

After several round of goodbyes with her parents, Rory held tight to Sophie begging the little girl not to grow up too fast and not to forget her. She gave April a hug, telling her to look after her Mom and Luke before saying goodbye to the man himself, asking the same of him about Lorelai. Not wanting to crowd her at the airport, her grandparents had said their goodbyes to her at the party, requesting lots of phone calls and letters. Following one more round of hugs and kisses, Tristan and most of the family stepped away, leaving Rory a moment with Lorelai and Riley.

"This is it," Lorelai said, trying not to cry, "Are you sure you have everything? You packed all your stuff, even the stuff you had at home? I'm sure there's something you forgot, something I need to give you or tell you. Oh that orange sweater you like, you can have it. I know you've been eyeing it for awhile so it's yours."

"Mom," Rory said, cutting her off, "You've given me everything I need."

"Okay, so, I guess you have to go now then don't you," she said.

"Yeah. I love you, Mom," Rory said, hugging her again, whispering in her ear, "Take care of Ry will you. It's his turn to have you all to himself."

"I will sweets," Lorelai told her, "I love you."

"Last one left," Riley said as Lorelai walked away towards Luke, taking Sophie from him, holding tight to her as she looked at Rory and Riley, watching their goodbye.

"And the hardest one to leave," Rory said, looking down so Riley wouldn't see the tears that continued to fall. She knew her leaving was as hard for him as it was for her and wanted to be strong.

"Hey, it's not forever," Riley said, tipping her chin up to look at him, "We'll talk and visit each other so often it will be like nothing's changed. And I'm sure we'll end up back on the same coast eventually. We won't be apart forever. We'll get our opportunity to live near each other or possibly work together again. Maybe in a few years we'll start our own paper and make it happen ourselves."

"Funny. We do have weddings to plan and attend for each other, too," Rory said.

"Yep, and there's no way you and Steph won't be spending a ton of time bouncing back and forth across the country to work on those together," Riley said.

"Very true," Rory said, smiling at the thought, a laugh forming.

"What?" Riley asked.

"I didn't want anything to do with that party. I begged Paris not to open the door," Rory said, "I hated that the first party was on our floor. I wanted a nice quiet start to my Yale career, but I'm so glad it wasn't. That party was the best damn thing to happen in my life."

"It was a pretty monumental moment in my life, too. What I can remember of it anyway, I was pretty drunk for most it," Riley said with a laugh, "The aftermath was pretty great, too."

"Who knew my insomnia that night would turn out to be the best thing ever," Rory said, "And these four years with you, Ry...I've loved every minute, even the ones when we fought."

"You're my best friend, Baby Girl," Riley said, pulling her into his arms, "I couldn't have imagined my life could have ever got any better than it was, but the day you came into my life it did. It's been an incredible four years."

"And now here we are," Rory said.

"Here we are," Riley said, "We made it. We're college graduates. We have our entire future ahead of us."

"And we got there together," Rory said.

"And we'll continue that way," Riley said, "We'll continue our lives, getting what we want and where we need to be, together."

The end!

* * *

 **AN:** And so ends my saga of Rory and Riley. Those two and the characters in this story and the universe I created have been a part of my life for the past three years. I fought this chapter because like Rory going off to Palo Alto, I was not ready to let them go. But, it's time to move on. I've been so focused on getting Rory and Riley where I wanted them to be I've neglected my other two stories and now that this one is complete I am hoping to have new chapters for It Still Works and I Will Always Be Your Soldier soon. At the moment I have no plans to continue anything with Rory and Riley, but never say never. Once I get myself back into a good place with my other two stories and may revisit them somewhere in the future.

Also, just a little info about Rory's job in Palo Alto. Dave Price and Jim Pavelich are real people in Palo Alto who worked at The Palo Alto Daily News before selling it. They actually created their new paper The Daily Post in May of 2008 so I pushed the time frame up a bit to give Rory a place in Palo Alto to work right away.

Thank you so much to everyone that stuck with this story and the two prior. Rory and Riley was my first foray into fanfiction. I began writing it mostly for myself as the plot popped into my head and would not go away. Thank you everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing. I love each and every one of you and hope you still around and continue to read my work. Happy reading!


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